Professor McCaul graduated in dentistry and medicine both with honours from the University of Glasgow. He completed undergraduate studies in 1997, winning 10 undergraduate prizes and medals. He completed basic surgical training gaining the FRCS Diploma in 1999 and entered higher training in the West of Scotland also spending some training time in London and in Florida, USA.
He completed his PhD in Molecular Oncology (Telomere Function and Radio Sensitivity) at the CRUK Beatson Laboratories in Glasgow and won the West of Scotland Head and Neck prize, Scottish OMFS Society prize three times and the European Head and Neck Golden award during training. He was appointed as Consultant Surgeon in Bradford Teaching Hospitals in West Yorkshire in 2006 and worked there for 8 years, developing clinical research in to head and; neck cancers resulting in a team of 7 research staff and over 850 patients recruited to clinical studies.

He moved to work in the Royal Marsden Hospital in April 2014. Among 13 National and International Awards to date he was awarded the British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (BAOMS) President’s award for research optimising patient care in major surgery in 2012 and the BAOMS Surgery Prize in recognition of his
international reputation and contribution in the Head and Neck field. His team won the BAOMS Norman Rowe Clinical Research Prize in 2014.
In 2017 he moved to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, one of the highest throughput head and neck cancer and facial trauma centres in the world He was the UK NCRI Lead for Head and Neck Cancer Surgery Research 2012 to 2020 and Research Lead for BAOMS 2012 to 2020.

He is Chief Investigator of the CRUK LIHNCS trial, which successfully recruited 419 patients to time and target, an
international first for a mouth cancer surgical clinical trial.. He is co-investigator in a further 8 clinical trials in the UK and collaborates internationally with colleagues in Europe and North America. These include analysis of new technologies for free flap monitoring and new pharmacologic treatments for ORN.

He is Assistant Editor of the International Journal of Surgery and the International Journal of Surgery Case Reports. He was Associate Editor of British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery for 3 years until 2014 and is part of the editorial board of this journal and reviews for 12 other international medical research journals. He is
author of 5 book chapters and has presented and published 90 peer reviewed articles and more than 150 research abstracts at national and international meetings. His first book for the open market “Face to Face” is an Amazon bestseller.

His clinical interests are in all pathology of the face, mouth, jaws, head and neck and salivary glands. His particular interests include early detection of precancer tissue and defining the precise extent of cancer and pre-cancer in patients with oral cavity and oro-pharynx tumours in order to accurately remove and treat cancer whilst minimising impact on oral and facial function, appearance and senses.