Sophie Pautex studied in Geneva, graduating as a MD in 1993 and obtaining her doctorate in 1994. She specialised in internal medicine and geriatrics at the HUG and obtained her advanced training in palliative medicine in 2016. At the HUG, she is currently Head of the Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics and Head of the Division of Palliative Medicine.  She has been active for over twenty years in the clinical, academic and scientific development of palliative care, with a particular interest in the care of elderly patients.

She is also very active in pre- and post-graduate teaching, and has a particular interest in inter-professionalism. In terms of research, she works mainly on the assessment and management of symptoms in elderly patients and on health professional-patient communication, particularly with regard to the anticipation of care, as well as the integration of palliative care into other specialities. Her broad expertise in the field of palliative care and her commitment to teaching and training were recognised by a Viktor Award in 2014, a distinction that rewards outstanding personalities in the Swiss healthcare sector.  Privat-Docent in the Department of Community Health and Medicine at the UNIGE Faculty of Medicine in 2009, she was appointed associate professor in 2016, then promoted to full professor in the Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics in July 2025.