Allen Taylor
Professor Emeritus
- Professor, Nutrition at Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy
- Professor, Developmental, Molecular and Chemical Biology at and the School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences
- Professor, Ophthalmology at Tufts University School of Medicine and
- Graduate Biomedical Sciences Member, Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology Program
- Graduate Biomedical Sciences Member, Pharmacology Program
Dr. Allen Taylor is Professor Emeritus in the Departments of Nutrition, Developmental, Molecular and Chemical Biology, and Ophthalmology. He directed the Laboratory for Nutrition and Vision Research Laboratory at the HNRCA for 40 years. His research focused on the pathophysiology of- and ways to ameliorate or delay progress of - age-related eye diseases, specifically age-related macular degeneration and cataract. He and his colleagues discovered that age-related oxidative and glycative damage to proteins in the eye compromise the function of the retina and lens. Worse, the protein editing machinery, that should remove damaged proteins, is also compromised. Together, this double jeopardy 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 180 peer-reviewed research articles and 51 reviews and has edited two foundational texts and multiple monographs, one on Aminopeptidases and the second on Nutritional and Environmental Influences on the Eye. Recent projects focus on associations between nutrition, retina and lens function, metabolomics, proteomics and proteostasis and microbiomes. 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 Founding Director of Scientific Training Encouraging Peace-Graduate Training Program (STEP-GTP; website STEP-GTP.org), a graduate program that fosters peace through collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian students. Among his many awards, Dr. Taylor has earned the City College of New York Humanitarian Award, 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), the Morris-Belkin Weizmann Visiting Professor Award (Weizmann Institute of Science) and an award from the Guggenheim Foundation. Dr. Taylor was a senior Fulbright fellow. Dr. Taylor also served as vice president of the International Society for Eye Research and Programming Planning Committee in Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.
Education
- PhD, Organic Chemistry, Rutgers University–Newark, Newark, United States
- Post Doctoral Studies in Biochemistry at the University of California at Berkeley
Research Activities
Dr. Taylor's research focuses on the relationships between stress, nutrition, retina and lens function, metabolomics, proteomics and proteostasis and microbiomes with the objective of diminishing risk for cataracts and age-related retinopathy.
