Dr. Bradshaw received her PhD in Biochemistry from Tufts University, with a thesis exploring the DNA-binding domain of SV40.  She subsequently left the field of structural biology to follow an emerging interest in immunology, joining the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School as a research fellow in clinical immunology, and later joining the faculty.  A main focus of Dr. Bradshaw’s work has been understanding the role of the human innate immune system in complex neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD).  Interestingly, genetic studies of AD directly implicate the involvement of the innate immune system.  In PD, the genetic modulation of the immune system is still being uncovered.  Currently, as co-director of basic research in the new Center for Translational and Computational Neuro-immunology, led by new Division of Neuro-immunology Chief Dr. Philip De Jager, one of Dr. Bradshaw’s major research interests is the translation of findings from these studies to molecular outcomes and potentially therapeutically targetable molecules in innate immune cells.