College of Health Professions

Dr. Deanna Cross, a faculty member at The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, passed away on July 16, 2024, at her home in Fort Worth. She was 53.

Cross served as faculty in HSC’s departments of Physician Assistant Studies in the College of Health Professions and Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics (now Microbiology, Immunology and Genetics) in the College of Biomedical and Translational Sciences.

She dedicated her career to translating genetic and genomic advances into patient care. Her work included implementing family health history tools to enhance patient care and developing resources to explain genetic and genomic advances to diverse patient populations. She was particularly passionate about identifying and eliminating barriers to the implementation of genetic and genomic medicine in traditionally underrepresented groups in genomic research and medical testing.