Dr. Archie C. Taylor is investigating the genetic components of several diseases. His goal is to identify factors that can change diagnoses and treatment or potentially eradicate diseases that disproportionately impact communities of color.
The middle of 13 children from the rural Mississippi Delta, no one in Taylor’s family had graduated from high school. At age 16, he was on the verge of following that same path when a science teacher, Elizabeth Burrell, challenged him — attend in-school suspension or the science club.
“I ended up doing a science fair project and won at the school level, the district level and the state level, until I had the opportunity to go to the 55th Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Portland, Oregon,” says Taylor, whose project was titled “A Study of the TumorSuppressing Effects of Phytosterols on Agrobacterium Tumefaciens.” His team placed third in the world.
“I discovered right then that I love science. That one experience shaped me,” says Taylor, who won a return trip to the fair the following year.
Shortly before high school graduation, Taylor received notification from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation informing him he was the recipient of a scholarship that would fund him until the completion of graduate school.
At Alcorn State University, his love of science was fostered as he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biological sciences. He then earned a Ph.D. in molecular sciences at Pennsylvania State University.
Now, back at Acorn State as a faculty member, Taylor is intent on providing mentoring similar to what he received. He is also the director and founder of the HeLa Center for Genomic and Social Research, where he works to increase underrepresented populations in GWAS (Genome-Wide Association Studies).
