Dr. Giroir is a native of Marrero, Louisiana.  He received his undergraduate degree in Biology, magna cum laude, from Harvard University and his medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Alpha Omega Alpha. His post-doctoral training was conducted at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Dallas under the mentorship of Dr. Bruce Beutler. Dr. Giroir remained on the faculty at UT Southwestern from 1993-2004, achieving a rank of tenured Professor. He held two endowed chairs, and served as the Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs at UT Southwestern Medical Center, as well as the first Chief Medical Officer at Children’s Medical Center of Dallas.  He has published extensively in both the basic and clinical literature, with special emphasis on host-pathogen interactions and novel therapies for life-threatening infectious diseases.  From 2004 until 2008, Dr Giroir accepted the opportunity to serve in the federal government as Deputy Director, then Director, of the Defense Sciences Office of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va. There, Dr. Giroir directed a research portfolio of approximately $450 million annually that spanned from fundamental physics to human biology. He led the establishment of a comprehensive biology/biomedical program that enabled breakthroughs such as brained-controlled prosthetics and natural approaches to improve immune resistance to infectious diseases. He developed and implemented a portfolio of programs that fundamentally changed the nation’s ability to respond to emerging pathogens and intentional biological attacks.  For his DARPA service, Dr. Giroir was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service.

Dr. Giroir is currently a member of the federal Threat Reduction Advisory Committee, charged with improving national security against weapons of mass destruction.  He also serves as a member of the Scientific and Prevention Advisory Council of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), the Board of Directors for BioHouston, and the Board of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute. He is a former member of the American Board of Pediatrics, the Defense Sciences Research Council, The NASA Planetary Protection Panel, and an alumnus of the Defense Sciences Study Group. 

Dr. Giroir is married to Jill S. Giroir since 1985, and has two daughters, Jacqueline and Madeline.

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