Dr. Ames received her DVM from The Ohio State University. She completed a rotating internship at Michigan State University, an emergency critical care internship at Tufts University, and a cardiology residency and post-doctoral research fellowship at North Carolina State University. She spent seven years as an assistant then associate professor of cardiology at Colorado State University.  She is currently an associate professor of cardiology at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Her research interests include the neurohormonal activation in cardiovascular and kidney disease, the treatment of congestive heart failure, and heartworm disease.