Newswise — BOSTON (Nov. 27, 2018)—Allen Taylor, a senior scientist and director of the Laboratory for Nutrition and Vision Research at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University, has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Election as an AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers. This year AAAS named 416 new Fellows in recognition of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.

Taylor was recognized for distinguished contributions to the field of molecular and nutritional gerontology, ophthalmology and protein quality control, and for using science to confront major sociopolitical challenges (science diplomacy).

Taylor’s work focuses on defining and understanding how aging and diet contribute to the abnormal accumulation of proteins that cause eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cataract. Specifically, he explores the relations between dietary carbohydrate intake, the ability of cells to recognize and remove toxic damaged proteins (ubiquitin proteasome pathway and autophagic lysosomal pathways), and aging in the development of eye diseases.

Taylor is also a 2018-2019 Tisch Faculty Fellow at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts where his work focuses on Science Training Encouraging Peace—Graduate Training Program (STEP). STEP funds graduate training in health science programs in the Israel-Palestine region for one Israeli and one Palestinian fellow to work as a pair throughout their training in order to develop transformative, cooperative professional relationships.

In addition to his position at the HNRCA, Taylor is also a professor of nutrition at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts, professor of ophthalmology at Tufts University School of Medicine, and a member of the Cell, Molecular & Developmental Biology and Pharmacology & Drug Development program faculty at the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts.

The AAAS Fellows will be announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on Nov. 29. In addition, new Fellows will be honored during the 2019 AAAS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 16.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world’s largest general scientific society. Founded in 1848, AAAS includes nearly 250 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. The non-profit AAAS (www.aaas.org) is open to all and fulfills its mission to “advance science and serve society” through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, public engagement, and more.

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About Tufts University

Tufts University, located on campuses in Boston, Medford/Somerville and Grafton, Massachusetts, and in Talloires, France, is recognized among the premier research universities in the United States. Tufts enjoys a global reputation for academic excellence and for the preparation of students as leaders in a wide range of professions. A growing number of innovative teaching and research initiatives span all Tufts campuses, and collaboration among the faculty and students in the undergraduate, graduate and professional programs across the university's schools is widely encouraged.