Vladimir Katanaev studied biology and biochemistry at Krasnoyarsk State University and Moscow State University, Russian Federation. After arriving in Switzerland, he obtained a doctorate in 2000 at the Institute of Biochemistry of the University of Fribourg, where he worked on intracellular signalling directing chemotaxis in leukocytes. Between 2000 and 2005, he did a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Genetics and Development at Columbia University in New York. It was there that he initiated his research on the Wnt signalling pathway, with Drosophila as a model. From 2005 to 2011, he led a research group at the University of Konstanz (Germany), where he continues his work on this intracellular signalling pathway in the context of animal development but also in carcinogenesis. He also completed his Habilitation in 2010. In 2011, he joined the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology of the University of Lausanne as an associate professor, focusing his research on intracellular signalling in normal and pathological cells, particularly in breast cancer. Combining fundamental and translational research, Vladimir Katanaev has identified several promising molecules - candidates for the development of innovative anti-cancer agents. He joined the Faculty of Medicine of the UNIGE in October 2018, where he is appointed full professor at the Centre for Translational Research in Onco-haematology and at the Department of Cell Physiology and Metabolism.