May 2022

Cassandra Taylor, Ph.D. is a Chemist at U.S. Food and Drug Administration within the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) and is a member of the Botanical Review Team (BRT) residing within the Office of Pharmaceutical Quality (OPQ) and serves as an expert resource on all botanical issues. Dr. Taylor received her B.S. in Chemistry from St. Francis University (2005), and her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Maryland (2014). Dr. Taylor has evaluated over 100 botanical drug submissions across CDER’s clinical divisions, with a focus on cannabis submissions. She serves as a cannabis subject matter expert (SME) for CDER and across FDA, concentrating on the botanical and quality aspects of cannabis. Dr. Taylor is technical lead on the draft FDA guidance for industry titled “Cannabis and Cannabis-Derived Compounds: Quality Considerations for Clinical Research.” She leads and coordinates the CDER Cannabis working group and leads many cannabis initiatives within CDER and FDA. Dr. Taylor is an active SME in the FDA cross-agency cannabis working group, Cannabis Products Committee (CPC). She collaborates with colleagues across FDA to help close substantial knowledge gaps about the science, safety, and quality of cannabis and cannabis-derived products.