Journal of Carcinogenesis & Mutagenesis

Andra R Frost

Andra R Frost
Associate Professor, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology
University of Alabama, USA

Biography

Dr. Andra Frost obtained her undergraduate degree in liberal arts from the University of Tennessee and a MD degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham UAB in 1985 . This was followed by residency training in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology and a combined Surgical Pathology and Cytopathology Fellowship at the George Washington University. She was a faculty member of the Departments of Pathology at Georgetown University and George Washington University before joining the faculty at UAB in 1997 where she is currently an Associate Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology. She was section head of the UAB Cytopathology Service from 1998 to 2001 and now participates in the Autopsy and Cytopathology Clinical Services. Dr. Frost\s research interest is primarily in breast cancer.  Earlier in her career her research focus was on the histologic and cytologic classification and prognostication of breast cancer. Through this work she developed an interest in the stromal or desmoplastic response in breast cancer and has built a laboratory based research program in stromalepithelial interactions in breast cancer development and progression. Current research projects involve Hedgehog signaling Glimediated transcription and primary cilia in breast cancer including their functions in the interactions between breast epithelial cells and fibroblasts. She is also involved in collaborative projects to study KLF4 Notch metastasis suppressors and IGF1R in breast cancer. Her work has been funded by the American Cancer Society the Department of Defense the Susan G Komen Foundation and NIH. She was also Director of the UAB Laser Microdissection Facility from 1999 to 2009.

Research Interest

The research of Dr. Frost\'s laboratory is focused on understanding the effects of the stromal microenvironment of the breast on breast carcinogenesis and the progression of breast cancer, with the ultimate goal of identifying new targets for the prevention of invasive and metastatic disease. Current work includes the study of the role of Hedgehog signaling and Gli-mediated transcription in breast cancer, in both epithelial cells and fibroblasts. Because primary cilia are important in Hedgehog signaling, the presence and function of primary cilia in breast cancer and normal breast is also a topic of current interest.