Toivo Maimets received in 1991 his PhD degree for studies of human oncoprotein p53 (University of Tartu) and became Professor of Cell Biology at the same university in 1992. His research involves characterization of intracellular signal transduction pathways responsible for cell cycle regulation, DNA damage control and tumorigenesis. He is also developing methods for screening low-molecular weight compounds to modulate protein-protein interactions in vivo and use this to design new anti-tumour drugs. Maimets has been member of several international research organisations and advisory groups, including European Research Area Board (ERIAB),European Commission Research, Innovation and Science Expert Group (RISE), European Molecular Biology Conference (former president), Science Europe (former member of Board), European and American Associations for Cancer Research and Academia Europaea. He is also member of the European Medicines Agency Committee of Advanced Therapies and has served as a member and vice-president of UNESCO International Bioethics Committee (2004-2011). His list of publications includes around 70 papers in international research journals as well as many articles in local press to enhance public understanding of science. His research has been supported by numerous grants from Estonia and abroad.