rt center effective April 4.

“Mary’s arrival is another important step in the building of a congenital heart surgery program at the Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children and indicates our commitment to children with heart defects in Mississippi and the region,” said Dr. Jorge Salazar, chief of congenital heart surgery at UMMC. “She is a world-class pediatric cardiac intensivist and one of the very few in the world at her level.”

Taylor was previously associate professor of pediatrics at Vanderbilt University and director of pediatric cardiac critical care at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

She received the medical degree at UMMC and completed residency training in pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she also earned the Masters of Science in clinical investigation and completed fellowships in pediatric cardiology and pediatric critical care.

“I feel really blessed to be able to come home to be part of a developing program,” Taylor said. “Being able to take care of these children in the way that they can and should be taken care of within the state is exciting.”