Dr. Sheryl K. Brining received a Ph.D. in neuroanatomy from the University of Cincinnati in 1991.
She has migrated to more biochemical research on the protein that accumulates in Alzheimer's disease brains,
the beta-amyloid peptide, or BA for short. BA collects in compact plaques in the brain. These compact plaques may be one
of the causes of 
Alzheimer's disease.
Interestingly, there is also a nontoxic type of this peptide that collects into diffuse plaques and seems to
be a normal part of aging, not causing any disease problems. So, some of her research is aimed at understanding
the difference between the toxic and nontoxic forms of BA.
Another interesting fact is that rats and other rodents do not ever show any BA plaques. People have put BA into their brains and they are able to break the peptide up into small pieces and get rid of it. So, another area of her research is aimed at understanding what the rat brain does with this protein. The goal is to identify the chemicals responsible for disposing of the BA peptide in the rat brain and perhaps these same chemicals can be boosted in humans who get Alzheimer's disease.
