Antonio J. Giraldez

Antonio Jesus Giraldez (born 1975) is a Spanish developmental biologist and RNA researcher at Yale University School of Medicine, where he serves as chair of the department of genetics and Fergus F. Wallace Professor of Genetics. He is also affiliated with the Yale Cancer Center and the Yale Stem Cell Center.

Giraldez specializes in understanding how a newly fertilized egg transforms into a highly-functioning, complex animal. This is a critical period in embryonic development and many of the pathways and molecules that drive this transformation are shared across animal species. Giraldez uses zebrafish as a model system, because it can be easily manipulated and visualized, and because the genetic tools to unlock its secrets are very sophisticated. 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 has contributed to characterizing the shift that occurs after the embryo interprets and shuts down the maternal program and activates the developmental program contained in its own genome.

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. He has been named a Howard Hughes Faculty Scholar and a Pew Scholar in Biomedical Sciences. In addition, he has received the Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists (National Finalist), the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science and the John Kendrew Young Scientist Award from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). Provided by Wikipedia