Doris Taylor is an American scientist known for her achievements in stem cell research and decellularization.[1]
She is the director of the Center for Cardiovascular Repair at the University of Minnesota. Her most recent accomplishment was leading a team which demonstrated the ability to create an entirely new rat heart in the lab.[2]
In 1977, Taylor received her BSc in Biology at the Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, Mississippi. In 1988, Taylor was awarded her PhD in Pharmacology from the Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas.
In 2008, Taylor led a team which published research on the creation of a completely new rat heart in the lab. This breakthrough was expected to pave the way for future research to eventually create entire replacement organs based on the patient's own cells, which would eliminate the need for transplants or drugs to prevent rejection (tissue engineering).[3]
In February 2008, Dr. Taylor was invited by Dr Earl Bakken to present her research findings at the Hawaii Heart Brain Center in northern Hawaii.[4]
In April 2011 her team at the University of Minnesota used adult human stem cells to create a human heart. This was from a heart stripped of its cells, leaving behind a tough protein skeleton known as a "ghost heart"[5]. This was then coated with adult human stem cells and the researchers hope the heart will start beating in the coming weeks [6].