Rate My Professor Dahong Chen

Dahong Chen, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, where he joined in 2024. He earned his PhD in Cellular Behavioral Neurobiology from the University of Oklahoma and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health. Chen's research investigates the regulation of chromatin 3D organization that ensures proper transcriptomic dynamics during neuronal remodeling, with a focus on rod photoreceptor development using FACS-isolated cells, bulk and single-cell omics, and imaging techniques. His academic interests encompass autism, bioinformatics, computational biology, developmental biology, epigenetics, neurobiology, neurodevelopmental disorders, retina and retinal disease therapy, and transcriptomics. As Principal Investigator, he leads NIH-funded projects, including the R00 Pathway to Independence Award (2024–2027) on chromatin architectural factor-mediated epigenetic regulation of neuronal remodeling and the K99/R00 grant (2019–2024) on chromatin insulator-mediated regulation.

Chen has garnered significant recognition, including the NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence (2018–2019), Nancy Nossal Fellowship Award (2017), Honor Presentation Award from the University of Oklahoma (2014), and Loren G. Hill Excellence Research Award (2012–2013). His influential publications appear in high-impact journals, such as 'CTCF regulates global chromatin accessibility and transcription during rod photoreceptor development' (PNAS, 2025), 'Temporal inhibition of chromatin looping and enhancer accessibility during neuronal remodeling' (Nature Communications, 2021), 'Dosage compensation in Bombyx mori is achieved by partial repression of both Z chromosomes in males' (PNAS, 2022), 'Function and regulation of chromatin insulators in dynamic genome organization' (Current Opinion in Cell Biology, 2019), and 'Shep regulates Drosophila neuronal remodeling by controlling transcription of its chromatin targets' (Development, 2018). He has delivered invited lectures at University at Buffalo, including on chromatin 3D organization in retinal and neuronal development. Chen serves on committees such as seminar organizer, Undergraduate Student Committee, MD student thesis honors, PhD thesis committees, Biomedical Research Advisory Panel, and IACUC. He reviews for journals including Nature Communications, PLOS Genetics, and BMC Biology, and has served as an NIH study section reviewer.