His research centers around the development of new technologies and methods for the analysis of eukaryotes. Recognized as a pioneer in flow cytometry, his recent contributions have greatly improved our understanding of cell-specific gene expression.

Dr. Galbraith's research interests include biological instrumentation, developmental and tissue-specific gene expression in eukaryotes, functional genomics and proteomics, and issues in biodiversity. He was elected a Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science in 2002, and served as Specialty Chief Editor of Frontiers in Genomic Assay Technology from 2011-2017. He is also an Associate Editor for Cytometry, and was a founding Associate Editor for Plant Methods. He served as Secretary of the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry (I.S.A.C.) from 2016-2020.
Previous funding from the National Institutes of Health (N.C.I.) was used to explore early events in gene expression during the development of ductal adenocarcinoma in the pancreas, from N.S.F. to develop hand-held devices to track plant and human pathogens, from the Arizona Department of Health to address early events in prostate oncogenesis, and from the United States Department of Agriculture (via the B.A.R.D. program) to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying grape bud dormancy. Current funding involves focusing on single-nucleus based analysis of cell type specific gene expression in complex plant tissues, and integrating research across large dimensional scales of enquiry.