Center for Anatomical Sciences at UNT Health Fort Worth

Center for Anatomical Sciences

Home

Anatomy Faculty and Staff

Graduate Studies

PhD & MS Programs Current Graduate Students

Research

Research Overview Summer Opportunities in Anatomy Research Anatomy Research Seminars

Outreach

HSC-TABS Outreach Programs

OUR MISSION: To advance scientific knowledge through education and research in the anatomical sciences and allied fields.

EXPERTISE: The CAS faculty have extensive backgrounds in anatomy, biological anthropology, evolutionary biology, histology, neuroanatomy and embryology, in addition to education and K-12 science outreach.

GRADUATE STUDIES: The CAS graduate programs (MS and PhD) provide opportunities for our graduate students to pursue research in structural anatomy and biomechanics as applied to biological anthropology, evolutionary biology, forensics and rehabilitation/orthopedic sciences.

OUTREACH: We are a leading provider of high-quality outreach programs for students and teachers in the Fort Worth ISD and surrounding Tarrant County area.

FACILITIES: Our center encompasses 8,000-square-feet of anatomy laboratories that support anatomical education, research, and outreach. The Center also houses five state-of-the-art research laboratories equipped for medical imaging analysis/morphometrics, forensic anthropology, thermoregulatory studies (environmental chamber), histology and paleontological fossil preparation/analysis.

News

		September 1, 2026 Dr. Kate Lesciotto was promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure.
		September 1, 2026 Dr. Taylor Polvadore joined the Center for Anatomical Sciences as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Polvadore’s research focuses on locomotor and feeding biomechanics in primates.
		August 17, 2026 Dr. Ellen Fricano joined the Center for Anatomical Sciences as an Associate Professor. Dr. Fricano’s research focuses on the use of 3D imaging techniques in forensic anthropology and evolutionary biology.
		August 3, 2026 Dr. Hannah Farrell joined the Center for Anatomical Sciences as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Farrell’s research focuses on relationships between anatomy and locomotor biomechanics in humans, fossil hominins, and non-human primates.
		July 14, 2026 UNT Health Newsroom coverage of PhD Candidate Baonhu Tran's (Maddux Lab) doctoral research funded by the National Science Foundation, Leakey Foundation, and Wenner Gren Foundation. "CBTS student earns multiple grants to support human thermoregulation research" UNT Health Newsroom
		July 1, 2026 PhD candidate Indya Thompson (Gonzales Lab) co-authored a paper published in the journal Science: Age and early life adversity shape heterogeneity of the epigenome across tissues in macaques. Science 392,6808 (2026). DOI: 10.1126/science.aea4922
		June 22, 2026 Dr. Mark Simon joined the Center for Anatomical Sciences as Postdoctoral Associate in the Cho Lab. Dr. Simon’s research focuses on paleodemography and paleoepidemiology.
		May 22, 2026 A book co-edited by Dr. Scott Maddux was published by Cambridge University Press: Cowgill LW, Maddux SD, eds. Neandertal Skeletal Anatomy: Form, Function and Paleobiology. Cambridge University Press; 2026.
		May 15, 2026 PhD candidate Lyndee Ward (Maddux Lab) received the Structural Anatomy & Rehabilitation Sciences Outstanding Student Award at the CBTS Annual Award Ceremony.
		May 12, 2026 UNT Health Newsroom coverage of Drs. Scott Maddux and Elizabeth Cho's thermoregulatory research funded by the National Science Foundation. "How the human body adapts to extreme environments" UNT Health Newsroom
		April 20, 2026 CAS postdoctoral associate, Dr. Paige Lynch (Lesciotto Lab), received the 2nd Place Postdoctoral Poster Presentation Award at at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Anatomy (Anatomy Connected) in Albuquerque, NM.
		April 17-20, 2026 CAS presentations at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Anatomy (Anatomy Connected) in Albuquerque, NM. Innominate Morphology Beyond the Pubis: Evaluating Alternative Traits for Sex Estimation. P. Lynch, A. Klales, K. Lesciotto. [Postdoctoral Poster Awards Finalist] A Combination Treatment to Recover Longitudinal Craniofacial Development in a Mouse Model of Osteogenesis Imperfecta. G. Moores, G. Batman, D. McDonald, A. Hall, T. Emmanuel, N. Crowe, C. Miller, R. Menegaz. [Graduate Student Poster Awards Finalist] Effects of Hypoglycemia and GAD2/GAD65 Gene Knockdown on Ventromedial Hypothalamic Nucleus (VMN) Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone Neuron Transcriptomics and Counterregulatory Hormone Profile in Female Rats. S. Sapkota, K. Briski, R. Yadav, M. Pasula. [Postdoctoral Poster Awards Finalist] Ontogenetic Shape Change of the Proximal and Distal Humerus: A Comparative Study of Macaca mulatta and Papio cynocephalus. I. Thompson, I. Arney, L. Gonzales. Predicting Nasal Air-conditioning: Revisiting Nasal Morphology and Climatic Adaptation in the Human Nose. L.A. Ward, B. Dennis, S.D. Maddux. [Graduate Student Podium Awards Finalist] Secondary Signals of Domestication in the Trabecular Bone of the Silver Fox (Vulpes vulpes). F.R. Foster, S.D. Maddux, R.G. Franciscus, A. Kharlamova, L. Trut, H. Chirchir.
		April 17, 2026 Structural Anatomy & Rehabilitation Sciences Discipline Awards for poster presentations at the 2026 UNT Health Research Appreciation Day (RAD). First Place: Carter Unger, PhD Student (Lesciotto Lab). Poster Title: Using Structural Equation Modeling to Investigate the Relationship Between Innominate Metrics and Morphology for Sex Estimation Second Place: Indya Thompson, PhD Candidate (Gonzales Lab) Poster Title: Ontogenetic Shape Change of the Proximal and Distal Humerus: A Comparative Study of Macaca mulatta and Papio cynocephalus
		March 18-21, 2026 CAS presentations at the 95th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Biological Anthropologists in Denver, CO. Geometric Morphometrics of the Vomeronasal Groove in Primates. Guadarrama, D., K. Rust, I. Thompson, N. Yazdani, L. Gonzales, E. Garrett. Human body composition investigated through a comparison of CT and DEXA imaging modalities. Counts, C., L.A. Ward, B. Tran, M. Hoskins, C. Boettger, R. Tejada Figueroa, J. Bui, B. Webb, A. Olivencia-Yurvati, L.W. Cowgill, C. Ocobock, S.D. Maddux, E.O. Cho. Predicting human surface area using 3D scanning and full body computed tomography: A comparison with traditional anthropometric methods. Hoskins, M., S.D. Maddux, E.O. Cho, C. Ocobock, C. Counts, J. Bui, L.W. Cowgill. Nasal shape and respiratory heat loss in different climates. Tran, B., L.A. Ward, C. Counts, L.W. Cowgill, C. Ocobock, E.O. Cho, B. Webb, A. Olivencia-Yurvati, S.D. Maddux. Predicting nasal air conditioning; Rethinking contributions of nasal morphology. Ward, L.A., B. Dennis, S.D. Maddux. Experimentally testing thermoregulatory principles in living humans: A collaborative approach. Maddux, S.D., L.W. Cowgill, C. Ocobock, E. Cho, M. Hoskins, J. Bui, L. Ward, B. Tran, C. Counts, C. Boettger, R. Tejada Figueroa, A. Reif, M. Goodstein, S. Romero, B. Dennis, B. Webb, A. Olivencia-Yurvati. Experimentally testing thermoregulatory principles in living humans: Core temperature correlates in thermoneutral, hot-dry, hot-humid, and cold-dry conditions. Cowgill, L.W., E.O. Cho, C. Ocobock, M. Keith, M. Hoskins, A. Reif, M. Goodstein, J. Bui, R. Tejada Figueroa, C. Boettger, B. Tran, L.A. Ward, S. Romero, A. Olivencia-Yurvati, B. Webb, S.D. Maddux. Experimentally testing thermoregulatory principles in living humans: Resting metabolic rate response to thermoneutral, hot-dry, hot-humid, and cold-dry conditions. Ocobock, C., L.W. Cowgill, E.O. Cho, D. McElreavy, M. Hoskins, A. Reif, J. Bui, R. Tejada Figueroa, C. Counts, B. Tran, L.A. Ward, S. Romero, A. Olivencia-Yurvati, S.D. Maddux.
		December 3, 2025 Media coverage of Drs. Elizabeth Cho and Scott Maddux's thermoregulatory research funded by a collaborative grant from the National Science Foundation: "Experimental testing of thermoregulatory principles: Re-evaluating ecogeographic rules in living humans" "The quest to find out how our bodies react to extreme temperatures" MIT Technology Review. Free audio recording available here.
		November 24, 2025 CAS Postdoctoral Associate, Dr. Subash Sapkota (Menegaz Lab), has been awarded an Interdisciplinary Research Leadership Fellowship through the UNT Health Institute for Health Disparities.
		October 17, 2025 Department of Physiology and Anatomy SEED Grant Awardees: Elizabeth Cho, Bruce Bunnell, Derek Schreihofer. Evaluating Thermoregulation, Reproductive Hormones, and the Impact of Adipose Tissue in Human Females During Two Stages of the Menstrual Cycle Rebecca Cook, Rita Patterson. An assessment of injury risk through biomechanical analysis in classical ballet. Lauren Gonzales. Revisiting Paleogene and Neogene fossil localities in Peruvian Amazonia. Scott Maddux, Rebecca Cook, Elizabeth Cho, Libby Cowgill: The “obstetric dilemma” and human thermoregulation: Evaluating pelvic biomechanics and locomotor cost in males and females. Rachel Menegaz, Subash Sapkota: TRP channels as mediators of early stress effects on neurodevelopment and mental health.
		October 17, 2025 Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Genetics SEED Grant Awardees: Roxanne Zascavage, Nicole Phillips, Austin Reynolds, Kate Lesciotto: Estimating Age at Death using DNA Methylation Patterns and Nanopore Sequencing.
		October 17, 2025 Department of Pharmacology & Neurocience SEED Grant Awardees: Clark Abbott, Tara Tovar-Vidales: Molecular pathogenic pathways involved in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAC) in a naturally occurring primate colony.
		August 19, 2025 Media coverage of Dr. Kate Lesciotto‘s recent collaborative grant from the National Institute of Justice: “MOSAIC: Unifying Methods of Sex, Stature, Affinity & Age for Identification through Computational Standardization.” "UNT Health idea and $2M grant fuel AI forensics tool to help solve missing persons cases" Dallas Innovates
		August 11, 2025 CAS welcomes Postdoctoral Associates Paige Lynch and Subash Sapkota. Dr. Lynch’s research focuses on forensic anthropology and she joins the Lesciotto Lab. Dr. Sapkota’s research focuses on neurobiology and he joins the Menegaz Lab.