Harold M. Frost was an American orthopedist and surgeon considered to be one of the most important researchers and theorists in the field of bone biology and bone medicine of his time. He published nearly 500 peer-reviewed scientific and clinical articles and 16 books. According to the Science Citation Index, he is one of the most cited investigators in skeletal research.
Life
He received his medical degree from Geisel School of Medicine and Feinberg School of Medicine in 1945. He then did his surgical internship in Worcester, Massachusetts. During this time he was Officer in the Naval Medical Corps from 1946-1948. He then did his residency in Orthopedic Surgery in Buffalo General and Children's Hospital in New York state from 1948 to 1953. In 1955, he became an Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Frost moved to Detroit to take a position at Henry Ford Hospital. There he became the founder and Director of the Orthopedic Research Laboratory. He remained the director until 1973, having served as chairman of the department from 1966 until 1972. During his time at the Henry Ford Hospital, Dr. Frost made many breakthroughs, which changed the paradigm of bone biology. Frost moved to Pueblo, Colorado in 1973 — drawn by the mountains, climate, and lifestyle — bringing with him his international reputation as a dogged researcher, talented orthopaedist and prolific author. While there he continued his active participation at the Sun Valley Workshops where he interacted with participants to develop cancellous bone histomorphomety, generate and refine the mechanostat hypothesis, and the ever-evolving Utah Paradigm of Bone Physiology.
Academic contributions
Dr. Harold M. Frost's main academic inputs include:
Bone remodelling dynamics, The Henry Ford Hospital surgical monographs, Thomas, 1963
The laws of bone structure, The Henry Ford Hospital surgical monographs, Thomas, 1964
Mathematical Elements of Lamellar Bone Remodelling, The Henry Ford Hospital surgical monographs, Thomas, 1964
Bone biodynamics, Henry Ford Hospital international symposium, , Little, Brown 1964
The bone dynamics in osteoporosis and osteomalacia, The Henry Ford Hospital surgical monographs, Thomas, 1966
An introduction to biomechanics, Surgical monographs, Thomas, 1967, 0398028249
Orthopaedic surgery in spasticity , Thomas, 1972
The physiology of cartilaginous, fibrous, and bony tissue , Thomas, 1972,
Bone remodeling and its relationship to metabolic bone diseases , Thomas, 1973,
Bone modeling and skeletal modeling errors , Thomas, 1973,
Orthopaedic Biomechanics , Thomas, 1973,
Symposium on the Osteoporoses Part 1: Physioplogy, Pathophysiology, and Diagnosis, Saunders, 1981
Symposium on the Osteoporoses Part 2: Therapy and Prevention, Saunders, 1981
Intermediary organization of the skeleton, CRC Press, 1986,
Bone in clinical orthopedics - Chapter 14: Determinants of bone strength and mass: a summary and clinical implications by Geoff Sumner-Smith, Georg Thieme Verlag, 2002,,
The Utah Paradigm of Skeletal Physiology Vol. 1, ISMNI
The Utah Paradigm of Skeletal Physiology Vol. 2, ISMNI
