David W. Taylor

David W. Taylor is an Associate Professor and Marvin L. Hackert Professor in Structural Biology at the University of Texas at Austin, Department of Molecular Biosciences within the College of Natural Sciences. He is also a Fellow in the Molecular Biosciences Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Graduate Programs and associated with the Center for Systems and Synthetic Biology.

Dr. Taylor's research focuses on how macromolecular machines assemble and function, with particular emphasis on understanding the structural basis for CRISPR RNA-guided adaptive immunity in prokaryotes and genome maintenance and double-strand DNA break repair in eukaryotes. His laboratory directly visualizes the structures of protein-nucleic acid complexes using cryo-electron microscopy.

His recent publications reveal a strong focus on CRISPR-Cas systems, with multiple high-impact papers in Science, Cell, and Molecular Cell in 2023-2025. His research spans structural biology, biophysics, and biochemistry with applications in gene editing technologies and understanding fundamental biological processes. His work shows an evolution from earlier clinical research in the 1980s-1990s to his current structural biology focus.

• American Cancer Society Research Scholar
• Army Young Investigator
• CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research
• Damon Runyon Fellow
• NSF Predoctoral Fellow
• Barry M. Goldwater Scholar

Dr. Taylor has received significant research funding and recognition for his work in structural biology and CRISPR systems. His educational background includes a Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University (2013), where he worked with Dr. Hong-Wei Wang, followed by postdoctoral work at UC Berkeley with Jennifer A. Doudna and Eva Nogales as a Damon Runyon Fellow.