Dr. Deona Botha

Deona Botha is a South African forensic anthropologist associated with the Human Variation and Identification Research Unit in Johannesburg and academic programs in anatomy and forensic science. Her work centres on skeletal biology, medico-legal investigation, and the development of population-specific standards for human identification within diverse South African groups.

Her publications highlight expertise in age-at-death estimation using histomorphometry, bone mineral density, and acetabular morphology, with a strong emphasis on methodological refinement. She has advanced the application of decision tree analysis and machine learning to forensic contexts, including age estimation in living individuals and the skeletal diagnosis of tuberculosis, demonstrating innovation in integrating statistical modelling with biological data.

Botha’s research also addresses trauma analysis, violence against vulnerable populations, and rare pathological conditions of the skeleton, alongside collaborative bioarchaeological studies linking genetics and morphology. Collectively, her scholarship strengthens forensic practice in South Africa by improving accuracy, contextual relevance, and scientific rigor in the construction of the biological profile.