ASRM mourns the recent death of long-time member Dr. Robert Neal Taylor of Buffalo, NY, who passed away on Monday, January 22, 2024, at the age of 71. Dr. Taylor will be remembered as a brilliant scholar, visionary in science and reproductive medicine, and a loving spouse, father, and grandfather.

Dr. Taylor received his undergraduate education at Stanford University and completed the combined MD-PhD program at Baylor College of Medicine. His graduate work was on the molecular biology of estrogen action. Professor Taylor trained as a resident in Obstetrics and Gynecology and subsequently as a fellow in Reproductive Endocrinology at UCSF. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at UCSF, where he studied the regulation of angiogenesis by growth factors and their receptors in the placenta.

Dr. Taylor was a board-certified OB/GYN and reproductive endocrinologist who was widely published in the areas of endometriosis, endometrial vascularization, embryonic implantation, preeclampsia, and other pregnancy complications. His laboratory has been continuously funded by the NIH since 1987.

Professor Taylor served as principal investigator on several clinical and translational grants and also on influential international, national, and state executive committees, including the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, NIH Reproductive Scientist Development Program, and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. He received the ASRM Distinguished Researcher Award in 2007 and shared the 2015 Harry Reich Award from the Endometriosis Foundation of America with the late Ronald Batt MD for pioneering work in the science and treatment of endometriosis.

Most recently, Dr. Taylor served as Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Assistant Dean for Student and Academic Affairs, and Director of the MD PhD Program at Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo. He was previously a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Utah, Wake Forest, and Emory Universities and Director of the Center for Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

Dr. Taylor was a prolific physician-scientist. He published over 385 scientific papers, co-authored numerous book chapters and textbooks, and contributed to national and international medical societies for decades. Most recently, he co-edited Chesley’s Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy, 5th edition.

As a colleague and mentor, Dr. Taylor exemplified the consummate clinician-scientist, emphasizing collaboration over competition. His legacy carries on in the hundreds of young physician-scientists he mentored over the years and his contributions to medical societies. He was most proud of his contributions to the Society of Reproductive Investigation, where he served as Past President (2010-2011).

Dr. Taylor is survived by his wife, Dr. Sarah Berga; children Christopher and Patrick; stepchildren Alexis Serman-Roe and Nathanial Sherman; grandchildren Ella Scott, Isla, and Walker; brother Scott Taylor; former spouse and mother of his children, Martha Miller Welch, and many cousins.

A memorial service will be held in Buffalo, New York on February 3, 2024 at 11 am ET at the Saturn Club of Buffalo, 977 Delaware Ave. Buffalo. Friends, family, and colleagues are invited to celebrate and honor his life and legacy.