About the PI

Callum F. Ross is Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at the University of Chicago. He is interested in how feeding systems function in health and disease, and during development and evolution.

His research focuses on: mandible biomechanics in primates, with the aim of understanding form-function relationships in primate mandibles, and improving clinical treatment of disorders of the feeding system, including mandibular fractures and mandibular hypoplasia; the biomechanics of tongue movements during chewing and swallowing in primates with the aim of understanding the evolution of the primate hyolingual system and improving clinical treatments of dysphagia; and the role of the cerebral cortex in the control of chewing and swallowing in nonhuman primates with the aim of developing treatments and rehabilitation strategies for chewing disorders and dysphagia.

Dr. Ross received his B.A. in Anthropology and Ancient History from the University of Auckland in New Zealand in 1987. He completed his PhD in Biological Anthropology and Anatomy at Duke University in 1993. Dr. Ross served two postdocs, one at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and one at Stony Brook University in New York. He was on the faculty of The Department of Anatomical Sciences at Stony Brook University from 1995 until 2004, when he joined the University of Chicago.

Dr. Ross heads the Anatomy Program at the University of Chicago. He is course director for The Human Body, the medical anatomy course for first year medical students at Pritzker School of Medicine and graduate students at The University of Chicago. He works with Dr. Georgina Voegele to run the University of Chicago Anatomy Lab.

Dr. Ross is also President of the Anatomical Gift Association of Illinois, the 501(c)(3) not for profit that has supplied cadaveric material to Chicago medical schools for over 100 years.