Doris Taylor, PhD, FAHA, FACC, a leading cell therapy and cardiac regeneration scientist, has joined the Texas Heart Institute (THI) at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in Houston. Taylor’s research includes cell and gene therapy for treatment of cardiovascular disease; tissue engineering of bioartificial organs and vasculature, cell-based prevention of disease; stem cells and cancer and holistic approaches to using cell therapy for treating chronic disease.

Most recently, Taylor and her team garnered international recognition for work involving whole organ decellularization by showing they were able to remove existing cells from hearts of laboratory animals and even humans leaving a framework to build new organs.

Taylor has been serving as director of the Center for Cardiovascular Repair and Medtronic Bakken Chair in Integrative Biology and Physiology at the University of Minnesota. Prior to that she was on the faculty as associate professor in cardiology at Duke University Medical Center.

A native of Mississippi, Taylor holds a B.S. in biology from Mississippi University for Women and a doctorate in pharmacology from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas.