Caroline VanSickle

West Des Moines, Iowa · Email

I am a biological anthropologist and an assistant professor of anatomy at an osteopathic medical school. My research seeks to understand the development and evolution of sex differences in the human skeleton, with a particular focus on how the shape of the bony pelvis relates to obstetrics. I co-teach a dissection-based human gross anatomy course for first year medical students and have previously led an elective course on LGBTQIA+ Health Care.

VanSickle Lab

The VanSickle Lab studies human variation and evolution. We use medical imaging and dissection techniques to record the skeletal and soft tissue variation found in living and deceased humans. We use 3D printing and modeling to compare hominin fossils with each other and with extant species to better understand the development and evolution of sex differences, especially in the bony pelvis.

A list of publications and conference abstracts are available from Google Scholar or ORCID. Please send me an email to request a PDF copy of any publication that is not open access.

Two women standing in front of a conference-style poster entitled 'The Effects of Parturition and Life Stage on Obstetric Pelvis Dimensions' Dr. VanSickle (left) and medical student Paige Grondel (right) present their research at the ATSU Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Symposium in 2021.
Woman uses a computer in a lab while watching a 3D printer print a fossil pelvis Dr. VanSickle 3D prints hominin fossils for comparative analyses.

Teaching & Outreach

I currently co-teach Human Gross Anatomy, a two-semester course for first-year medical students that combines didactic learning with dissection-based labs. I have previously served as course director of this course at the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine.

My teaching is motivated by a desire to recognize and address the explicit and implicit social biases that are inherent to the practice of science and medicine. I volunteer my time to teaching & outreach activities that reflect this goal. To foster discussion about the health needs of the LGBTQIA+ communities, I have offered a seminar-style elective on LGBTQIA+ Health Care. Additionally, I have served as a leader in a variety of diversity-related organizations within my community.

History

I hold a Ph.D. and M.A. in Anthropology from the University of Michigan. My advisor was Milford Wolpoff and my dissertation was entitled, A new examination of the evolution of childbirth-related pelvic anatomy in Neandertal females. I earned my Bachelor's of Science in Anthropology from Kansas State University with Michael Finnegan serving as my advisor.

Between 2013 and 2018, I taught anthropology and gender and women’s studies courses at Oxford College of Emory University, University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Bryn Mawr College. I have experience as the instructor-of-record for courses on: introduction to biological anthropology, bioarchaeology, biology & gender, human diets past & present, human evolution, paleoanthropology methods, race & human variation, and women in the paleolithic. Between 2018 and 2023, I taught anatomy at the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, primarily focusing on gross anatomy instruction and LGBTQIA+ health.