Herman A. Taylor, Jr. MD, MPH, FACC
Dr. Taylor is a nationally-recognized leader in cardiology with broad experience and success in
key areas including invasive practice/research. Over the last decade, he has focused
predominantly on preventive cardiology, leadership of the landmark Jackson Heart Study (JHS)
and ancillary observational research projects. Dr. Taylor was appointed in 1999 as the Principal
Investigator and Director of the Jackson Heart Study, the largest epidemiological study of
African Americans and cardiovascular disease of its kind ever undertaken. While in that role he
held three simultaneous positions with the institutions funded by the NIH to administer the
Study: Professor of Medicine and an attending cardiologist (and the inaugural holder of the
Aaron Shirley Endowed Chair for the Study of Health Disparities) at University of Mississippi
Medical Center; Visiting Professor of Biology in the Division of Natural Sciences at Tougaloo
College; and, Clinical Professor of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at Jackson State
University. In addition to establishing a resource of international importance for the study of
cardiovascular disease, the JHS evolved highly successful teaching and community service
components tightly linked to the study. As the Director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute
(CVRI) at Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), Dr. Taylor is responsible for providing
leadership to CVRI, which maximizes the institutions’ contributions to the educational, research
and clinical initiatives of MSM. Under his leadership, CVRI continues to examine ways to
eliminate cardiovascular health disparities in Georgia while serving as a model to the nation. Dr.
Taylor’s career as a scientist and clinician has been spent seeking to understand causes of
cardiovascular disease (CVD) with a focus on elucidating approaches to ameliorate its
disproportionate impact on certain population groups. With formal training at Harvard Medical
School (MD), University of North Carolina (internal medicine residency), the University of
Alabama at Birmingham (cardiology fellowship), and the Harvard School of Public Health
(MPH), Dr. Taylor has pursued a series of studies of ethnic disparities in CVD risk factors,
events, and outcomes.