Research Focus
Dr. Frost has been employed at major primate research facilities for more than 30 years. She has managed breeding colonies and conducted clinical, surgical support and experimental procedure development involving marmosets, tamarins, owl monkeys, baboons, chimpanzees, and multiple macaque species.
As a senior veterinarian, she provides support to the SNPRC for its clinical and research programs. In this role, she has developed and instituted a baboon breeding program and research protocols to support the study of fetal programing and stem cells. Dr. Frost has managed macaque breeding programs at several facilities in various configurations from time-mated pairs to large group enclosures. In addition to extensive experience in breeding and health management of macaques, she has extensive experience in transferring entire populations of non-human primates (macaques and chimpanzees) between institutions. She was instrumental in the planning of the transfer and re-socialization of three entire populations of macaques (600 rhesus and 1,500 cynomolgus) to our existing facility.
Currently, Dr. Frost has daily oversight of the scheduling and the performance of the breeding and health needs of macaques, including routine health exams, selection of breeder replacements, reproductive soundness of both males and females, pregnancy management, post-partum evaluation, surgical intervention when necessary, and infant reintroduction.
Her diverse background and experience in the field of laboratory medicine has provided her with the opportunities to work in multiple research areas, ranging from vaccine development to Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) projects and model development.
Her most recent collaborative research efforts at SNPRC include the development of an obesity model in baboon and metabolic profiling and experimental production of a diabetic model using streptozotocin (STZ).