When an egg is fertilized, it must shut down the maternal signals that maintain its identity and activate a new program to become a healthy zygote, which in turn can develop into a fully-fledged adult.
Giraldez's work has wide implications for understanding developmental genetics in humans and other species, advancing RNA biology, and exploring the activation of embryonic cells in health and disease.
Giraldez completed his PhD with Stephen Cohen at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL, Heidelberg, 1998–2002), followed by postdoctoral studies with Alexander Schier at the Skirball Institute (NYU) and Harvard (2003–2006).
Giraldez began his career at the Centro de Biologia Molecular Severo Ochoa (CBMSO) in Madrid, working on the development of Drosophila under the mentorship of Ginés Morata.
Using ribosome footprinting, the lab has identified novel, translated genes that encode micropeptides, one of which regulates cell motility in embryogenesis as shown by the Alexander Schier[11][12] and Bruno Reversade[13] laboratories.
[15] Giraldez's work established the concept that mRNAs can have differential stability dependent on the codon composition and tRNA availability[16][17] and showed the importance of regulating mRNA levels during cellular transitions and homeostasis.
In 2018, Giraldez delivered a Keynote Lecture as part of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory's Leading Strand Series, which can be viewed online here.
In addition to being a permanent member of the NIH Dev1 Study Section, he has served on the Pew Scholars Alumni Review Board and the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Fellowship Awards Committee.