DMU Researchers Present Forensic Anthropology Findings at National Conference

WEST DES MOINES, IA (03/31/2025) Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences anatomy professor, Heather Garvin, Ph.D., along with postdoctoral researcher, Stephanie Cole, Ph.D., and DMU students Meghan Gast, M.S.A.'28 and Gloria Eddy, M.S.A.'29, attended the American Academy of Forensic Sciences conference in Baltimore in February 2025. The annual national conference unites leading forensic scientists from across the world to exchange knowledge, advance research and foster collaboration. Garvin, Gast and Eddy presented posters at the conference.

The first poster was authored by DMU Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine student, Bringham McKay, D.O.'27, and was presented by Garvin, Gast, Eddy and Cole. The study, "The statistical relationship of breakaway spurs and notches with saw class characteristics in experimental dismemberments," looked at saw cut bones to try and estimate the types of tools used in dismemberment cases. "We don't like to think dismemberment cases are very common, but they do happen at higher rates in urban areas where disposing of a body can be difficult," Garvin says. "We are trying to gather as much information as we can from the bone to determine what tool was used. Forensic anthropology suggests that certain traits in the bone can be related to certain saw tools, but this hasn't been scientifically tested."

The second poster, "Estimating age-at-death in adults using the Calce Method," was presented by Eddy and studied changes to the osteophyte development, the acetabular grooves and the apex growth to provide an age estimation. "Age estimation is integral in producing a biological profile to aid law enforcement in identifying human remains," Garvin says. "When it was created in 2012, the Calce method was found to have an 81% accuracy rate, but this research found a deviation from the original study, showing just over 56% accuracy."

Garvin was awarded a National Institute of Justice Grant in 2024 for her research, "Empirical Analysis of Saw Mark Characteristics in Human Bone: Meeting Forensic Standards in Dismemberment Cases." The three-year grant supports this project, a postdoctoral researcher and a student in DMU's Master of Science in Anatomy degree program.

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