The role of WNT signaling in pathological conditions such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and neurodegeneration is now well established and there is increasing interest in therapeutic exploitation of the pathway. In this symposium we will focus on new developments in WNT signaling activation and the rapidly developing opportunities for targeting the pathway at multiple levels in a context of cancer and cardiovascular disease. Next, the translational perspective will be discussed, followed by three short presentations by junior researchers, selected from the abstracts. The symposium will be concluded by a panel discussion where input from the audience will be addressed.