Developmental Molecular Mechanisms

BIOGRAPHY

ACADEMIC POSITION:
Associate Professor, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

EDUCATION AND BACKGROUND:
Daniel Constam obtained his doctoral degree in natural sciences from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zürich, in 1993. Between 1994 and 1999, he worked in the laboratory of Elizabeth Robertson (Harvard University, Cambridge MA) to study the molecular genetics of early mammalian development. In 2000, he joined ISREC as an associate scientist. He was nominated Tenure Track Assistant Professor at the EPFL School of Life Sciences in 2004, and promoted to Associate Professor in 2007.

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
We use genetic and biochemical approaches to decipher the crosstalk between pluripotent cells and their microenvironment that sustains and coordinates tissue growth and differentiation in the early mouse embryo. A current focus is on imaging secreted endoproteases and their activities that are implicated in regulating TGFbeta-related signals mediated by Nodal and its coreceptor Cripto. We also investigate the regulation of miRNA-mediated RNA silencing by a protein that is required for left-right axis formation and to suppress cystic growth in the kidney and pancreas.