Doris Taylor in the lab. Photograph by Patrick O'Leary.

Taylor, who directs the University’s Center for Cardiovascular Repair, is a world-renowned heart researcher who recently led a team that created beating heart muscle on an empty scaffolding, a breakthrough that could lead to growing new hearts for cardiac patients. Taylor will be the keynote speaker.

Bakken will introduce Taylor, who holds the Medtronic Bakken Chair in the Medical School. Bakken became famous for creating the world’s first transistorized cardiac pacemaker, a device which revolutionized heart care and led to his founding Medtronic.

“We have opened the door to the notion that any organ can be made," Taylor said of her lab's recent breakthrough. "Until now, it’s really been just science fiction.”

The 2008 Annual Celebration will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a reception and dinner on Northrop Mall. The program begins at 7:30 p.m. in Northrop Auditorium. Mortenson Construction and Medtronic Foundation are our 2008 Annual Celebration sponsors.