Trent Stephens

Trent D. Stephens, PhD: I grew up in southern Idaho and graduated from Raft River High School, Malta, Idaho, in 1966. I served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Michigan and Indiana (Great Lakes, 1967-1969). I attended BYU, where I met the love of my life, Kathleen Brown. We have five children, fifteen grandchildren and four great grandchildren. I have served in many church callings, including bishop twice and temple worker in the Idaho Falls and Pocatello Temples.

I graduated from BYU in 1973 with a BS in Microbiology and a BS in Zoology. I then earned an MS in Zoology from BYU in 1974 and a PhD in Anatomy from the University of Pennsylvania in 1977. I completed a post doc in Pediatrics at the University of Washington in 1981 and took a position teaching Anatomy and Developmental Biology in the Idaho Dental Education Program at Idaho State University the same year. I retired in 2011 after teaching at ISU for thirty years. I was selected as the ISU Distinguished Teacher (1992) and Outstanding Researcher (2000). I continue to teach anatomy classes at ISU and other institutions.

My research is the study of normal and abnormal biological form, including birth defects, and I have published approximately one hundred papers and books on the subject, including several scholarly works on the relationship between birth defects and medieval beliefs. While a post-doc I published the Atlas of Human Embryology in 1979.

One of my areas of interest is medieval history and castles. I have a website called buildmodelcastles.com. I also have designed party supplies some of which may be found at frolicparties.com. I have an experimental website, illuminatus.info, where I am posting anatomy lectures and other esoteric things. My main website is trentdeestephens.com.

I have authored or co-authored about thirty books, including several leading-selling Anatomy and Physiology textbooks, each with multiple editions, and the critically acclaimed history of thalidomide, Dark Remedy, the Impact of Thalidomide and its Revival as a Vital Medicine. I am considered one of the world’s leading authorities on thalidomide, and have been invited to speak at several international conferences. I have also traveled to several countries to evaluate alleged thalidomide victims who have not been previously identified as such – but now are.

I have also authored or co-authored five books on the relationship between science and religion: Evolution and Mormonism: a Quest for Understanding, 2001; Who are the Children of Lehi? DNA and the Book of Mormon, 2007; The Infinite Creation: Unifying Science and Latter-day Saint Theology, 2020; The Infinite Fall: A Scientific Approach to the Second Pillar of Eternity, 2021; and The Immortal Messiah: The Physiology of Resurrected Beings, 2022.