Rate My Professor Daesung Shin

Daesung Shin, PhD, serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Biotechnical and Clinical Laboratory Sciences at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, a position he has held since 2020. Previously, he was Principal Investigator at the Hunter James Kelly Research Institute from 2011 to 2020 and Postdoctoral Fellow in Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco / HHMI from 2005 to 2011. Shin earned his PhD in Neuroscience from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in 2003, MS in 1999, and BS in 1997, all from the same institution.

His research specializes in glia physiology and pathophysiology, lysosomal storage diseases, myelin diseases, and neurodevelopmental disorders, with a particular emphasis on Krabbe leukodystrophy pathogenesis. As Principal Investigator, he has secured substantial funding, including NIH-NINDS grants such as Selective galactosylceramidase ablation to study the pathogenesis of Krabbe leukodystrophy ($398,750, 2018–2019; $1,395,624, 2019–2024; $2,013,407, 2024–2029), Clinical variability and Cell autonomy of Krabbe leukodystrophy ($159,084, 2014–2016), and The peripheral nervous system: A window into Krabbe disease ($2,129,163, 2019–2025, Co-Investigator). Additional support includes the Rosenau Family Research Foundation grant Modulating Oligodendroglial NFkB as a Therapeutic Strategy for Krabbe Disease ($250,000, 2024–2027), SUNY Research Seed Grant ($40,000, 2024–2025), and New York Stem Cell Foundation ($6,000, 2014–2015). Shin has received honors including the Young Investigator Award from the Neurobiology of Disease in Children Symposium (2017), Travel Stipend Award from Gordon Conference on Lysosomal Disease (2019), and Travel Fellowship from the American Neurological Association (2010).

Key publications encompass 'Perinatal loss of galactosylceramidase in both oligodendrocytes and microglia is crucial for the pathogenesis of Krabbe disease in mice' (Molecular Therapy, 2024), 'Ablation of lipocalin-2 reduces neuroinflammation in a mouse model of Krabbe disease' (Scientific Reports, 2024), 'Neuron-specific ablation of the Krabbe disease gene galactosylceramidase in mice results in neurodegeneration' (PLoS Biology, 2022), 'Brainstem development requires galactosylceramidase and is critical for pathogenesis in a model of Krabbe disease' (Nature Communications, 2020), and 'Altered Trafficking and Processing of GALC Mutants Correlates with Globoid Cell Leukodystrophy Severity' (Journal of Neuroscience, 2016). His contributions elucidate mechanisms of neurodegeneration and demyelination in lysosomal storage diseases, informing therapeutic development.