After a long stint at UAB, Ross Holmes, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Urology, will retire at the end of 2021.

Holmes graduated from Australian National University earning his Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1978. Holmes began research at University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana investigating the role of calcium and membrane perturbations in heart disease. In 1987, he joined faculty at Wake Forest University where his focus shifted to calcium and oxalate handling associated with calcium oxalate stone disease.

Throughout his career, Holmes established the role of dietary oxalate in stone disease, cloned the gene causing the rare disease, primary hyperoxaluria type 2, identified mutations in patients, and claried the biochemical pathways associated with hepatic oxalate synthesis.

"Ross has been a thought leader in the field of oxalate biology as it pertains to kidney stones, said Dean Assimos, M.D., chair and professor in the Department of Urology. "He has been an NIH-funded investigator for numerous years. His research has provided insights into the role of dietary oxalate in kidney stone risk, gastrointestinal and renal oxalate handling, and endogenous oxalate synthesis, and the body’s making of this chemical. He has provided the scaffold for innovative new treatments for a devastating disease, primary hyperoxaluria."

"Ross has been a great mentor for many basic scientists, graduate students, fellows, and residents, providing them with the support and guidance for a pathway to success. Ross has been a great friend, confidant, and my “older brother from down under”! I will miss his dry wit and humble nature. I congratulate him on his long, productive, investigative career. I know that he will enjoy his next stage in life, returning to his homeland to be with his children and grandchildren,” said Assimos.