People of The Pearl meets Connect Labs Charlotte lab specialist, Shannon Taylor, Ph.D.
When science needs a fix, she prints one.
After a missing plastic fitting stalled a recent project, Shannon Taylor didn’t place an order. She solved it the way Connect Labs Charlotte was designed to: she made the part herself on a 3D filament printer.
Across from Shannon’s machine stood another colleague, printing custom-made, plastic designs for a separate project.
Located at The Pearl, Connect Labs Charlotte is Wexford Science & Technology’s flexible, scale-in-place lab and shared innovation infrastructure for emerging and growth companies in the life sciences, computational, engineering and energy industries.
Wexford is the developer and public-private partner of The Pearl.
At the heart of the laboratory operations is Shannon, who moved to Charlotte to begin her new role, in December 2025. She helps to support tenant companies that work within the wet and dry lab startup spaces. Her role contributes to the culture of The Pearl by helping to create an environment where scientists, entrepreneurs and innovators can work as part of a community, solving complex medical and scientific challenges.
“I work to make sure tenants have what they need — from lab infrastructure to operational support — so they can stay focused on discovery and building,” Shannon says. “We have daily operational tasks we must do but in general, no two days are exactly the same. I might be helping companies onboard and navigate resources, coordinating facility and equipment needs or working and training in our makerspace area that is geared toward device development.”
Shannon is a scientist by trade, specializing in virology – the study of biological viruses – who holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology. Before her current role, she worked as a scientific director at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center Regional Containment Laboratory, where she performed high containment work on RNA viruses in Memphis. She previously did this work with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.
She was drawn to her laboratory operations role at Connect Labs Charlotte because she values a supportive community and enjoys working alongside innovative startup companies.
With the equipment that’s available in the labs, companies can focus on prototype development, such as a new medical device, 3D printing and CNC machining, a computer-controlled machine that removes layers from an existing piece of material to create something new. On the life science side, there are nearly limitless possibilities in research and development for diagnostic companies, drug discovery and biologics, as examples.
“Having a community where entrepreneurs can be in an environment with like-minded people is important and supportive for startup companies,” Shannon says.
Decorating the walls of Connect Labs Charlotte is a mixed-medium art gallery, procured in collaboration with ArtPop, a Charlotte-based nonprofit artists’ collective that works to create connections through art. One of Shannon’s own artworks is part of the collection — an original painting of a marsh landscape — a hobby she took up recently.
She says the art perfectly complements the work going on in the labs because it “exudes creativity.”
Shannon describes The Pearl as transformational, catalytic and innovative, and she’s proud to play a role in the growth of The Pearl and its community.
“What excites me most about The Pearl is being part of an ecosystem that is designed to turn insights and research into meaningful advances for human health,” she says.
