Allen Taylor, PhD

• PhD, Organic Chemistry, Rutgers University–Newark, Newark, United States, 197

Dr. Allen Taylor is Senior Scientist and Director of the Nutrition and Vision Research Team at the HNRCA. He has been directing research into the pathophysiology of age-related eye diseases, specifically age-related macular degeneration and cataract, for 35 years. He and his colleagues discovered that age-related oxidative and glycative damage to proteins in the eye compromise the function of the lens. Worse, the protein editing machinery, that should remove damaged proteins, is also compromised. Together, this explains in part, why rates of disease accelerate upon aging. On a more optimistic note, they also showed that by lowering stress, including sugar-induced stress, one can diminish risk for age related disease. Dr. Taylor has published more than 170 peer-reviewed research articles and 51 reviews and has edited two foundational texts and multiple monographs. He has trained over 30 graduate fellows, most of whom remain active scientists, and has served as the PI for multiple, continuously funded, NIH supported projects. Dr. Taylor is a professor in both the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and the  School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences. He is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Tufts University School of Medicine and Founding Director of the Scientific Training Encouraging Peace-Graduate Training Program (STEP-GTP), a graduate program that fosters peace through collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian students. Among his many awards, Dr. Taylor has earned the Denham Harmon Award for Excellence in Aging Research, Osborn and Mendel Award for Excellence in Nutrition Research, Robert M. Russell Scientific Achievement Award (Tufts University), the Pfizer Consumer Healthcare Nutritional Science Award (American Society for Nutrition), and the Morris-Belkin Weizmann Visiting Professor Award (Weizmann Institute of Science). Dr. Taylor was a senior Fulbright fellow and Guggenheim fellow. Dr. Taylor was also vice president of the International Society for Eye Research and Programming Planning Committee in Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.