Taylor was a microbiologist, public health official and Director of the Rockefeller Foundation International Health Division. His specialty was arboviruses. In 1951 at the age of 65 he helped establish a program at the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU-3) in Egypt to study mosquito- and tick-borne viruses and their transmission cycles. Collaborating closely with Telford Work and others, their work helped eradicate yellow fever and identified the West Nile virus.

Collection of background research materials and copies of original Lyster manuscript materials from other repositories gathered by Stephen Craig during the creation of his biographical article about Lyster. Lyster served under William Gorgas in Cuba and the Panama Canal Zone, was head of the aviation medical corps during WWI, and was a director of the Rockefeller Foundation Yellow Fever Commission. He was an ophthalmologist in private practice.