ATSU-ASHS’ Dr. Spies recognized with board certification in forensic anthropology
Posted: November 19, 2025
Amy J. Spies, PhD, assistant professor of clinical anatomy in the Department of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences, A.T. Still University-Arizona School of Health Sciences (ATSU-ASHS) has earned board certification as a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology (D-ABFA), the field’s highest recognized professional credential.
This certification signifies advanced expertise in forensic anthropological methods, theory, and casework, validated through a rigorous application review and two multi-hour examinations administered by the ABFA. By earning this credential, Dr. Spies joins fewer than 200 professionals who have achieved this distinction since the ABFA’s founding in 1977.
“For our students and partners, Dr. Spies’ D-ABFA credential brings nationally recognized expertise directly into our classrooms and community collaborations, from human identification to trauma interpretation and medicolegal investigations,” said Kellie Huxel Bliven, PhD, ATC, chair, Interdisciplinary Health Sciences department. “It reflects our commitment to applied, evidence-based training that prepares graduates to work across the health and public-service sectors.”
As a forensic anthropologist, Dr. Spies applies skeletal biology to assist medical examiners and coroners on cases involving decomposed, burned, fragmentary, or otherwise challenging remains, work that supports families, advances justice, and informs public safety.
“I’m honored to join the ABFA diplomate community,” said Dr. Spies. “I look forward to expanding student learning opportunities, strengthening interprofessional case simulations, and partnering with regional medicolegal agencies to serve the public.”
Dr. Amy Spies joined ATSU-ASHS in 2024 and teaches human anatomy courses, with scholarly interests in forensic anthropology that include analyses of trauma using virtual imaging, assessments of facial and postcranial fluctuating asymmetry, and sex and population-affinity assessments using geometric morphometrics.
She earned a PhD in anatomical sciences from University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, and completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix. Dr. Spies has volunteered in the Forensic Anthropology Laboratory at the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner, and currently volunteers at the Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner, where she performs forensic casework.