Regular biography
Daniel Constam is an Associate Professor in the Department of BIO at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). His research focuses on the functions of activin receptor ligands and bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP) of the transforming growth factor (TGF)-β family, their regulation during development and in cancer by furin and related secreted proteases, and the role of fluid flow-sensing primary cilia in bilateral symmetry breaking. His group developed the first specific and genetically validated biosensors to image protease activities in cell and tissue compartments. Additionally, his lab discovered that the stimulation of activin receptor signaling by fluid flow-sensing primary cilia is biased to the left side by the BicC family RNA binding protein 1 (Bicc1).