Daniel Constam received his doctoral degree in Natural Sciences from ETH Zürich. After postdoctoral studies as an EMBO fellow at Harvard University, he became a group leader at the Swiss cancer research institute ISREC and tenured Associate Professor in the School of Life Sciences at EPFL. His research has uncovered important functions of activin receptor ligands and bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP) of the transforming growth factor (TGF)-β family and their regulation during development and in cancer by furin and related secreted proteases. His group succeeded to image these protease activities in cell and tissue compartments of interest by developing the first specific and genetically validated biosensors. In addition, 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) to direct bilateral symmetry breaking. Mechanistically, they found that Bicc1 is recruited to the 3’UTR of the secreted ligand antagonist Dand5, depending on multivalent interactions with the ciliopathy proteins ANKS6 and ANKS3 in cytoplasmic condensates. Aggressive growth of fluid-filled cysts in kidneys and bile ducts of Bicc1 mutant mice further pointed to a general function in regulating mRNA translation and tissue homeostasis downstream of flow-sensing cilia.