Rate My Professor Shin Kaneko

Shin Kaneko, M.D., Ph.D., is Professor in the Department of Clinical Application at the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), Kyoto University, and also serves as Professor at the University of Tsukuba Faculty of Medicine and Deputy Director of CiRA. He earned his medical degree from the School of Medicine and Medical Sciences at the University of Tsukuba and completed graduate studies at Ehime University and the Division of Biomedical Science (Immunology) at the University of Tsukuba. His early career included residency at University of Tsukuba Hospital, research fellowships with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, a lectureship at the University of Tsukuba, a postdoctoral fellowship at the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Italy, and an assistant professorship at the Graduate School of Medicine of the University of Tokyo.

Since joining CiRA in 2012 as Associate Professor and advancing to full Professor in 2020, Kaneko has focused his research on the clinical application of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells for immunotherapy. His laboratory develops methods to generate antigen-specific T lymphocytes and other immune cells from T-iPS cells, including scalable, clinically applicable processes for producing cytotoxic T cells, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells, natural killer cells, and macrophages. These approaches aim to enhance safety, reduce immunogenicity, and enable off-the-shelf therapies for cancer, infectious diseases, autoimmune conditions, and transplantation. Key contributions include foundational work on T-iPS cell redifferentiation and advancements in animal-component-free manufacturing. He has received awards including the Japanese Society of Hematology Encouragement Award, the Japan Society of Gene and Cell Therapy Young Researchers Encouragement Award, the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine Johnson & Johnson Innovation Award, and multiple CiRA Awards. Some technologies developed in his group have been licensed for clinical development.