Prof Nigel Curtis
Prof Nigel Curtis
Details
Role
Group Leader / Principal Research Fellow
Research area
Infection, Immunity and Global Health
Group
Infectious Diseases
Contact
Available for student supervision
Professor Nigel Curtis is a paediatric infectious diseases physician and clinician scientist. He is the leader of the Infectious Diseases Research group at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Professor of Paediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Melbourne and Head of Infectious Diseases at The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne.
Professor Curtis did his undergraduate medical degree at the University of Cambridge and clinical training at St Mary's Medical School, University of London. He undertook his laboratory training at Imperial College London St Mary's Campus, where he completed a PhD investigating the role of bacterial superantigen toxins in Kawasaki disease and staphylococcal and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. His specialist training in infectious diseases included working at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children and a Fellowship at the British Columbia Children's Hospital. He has also worked for periods in The Gambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Prof Curtis' research focuses on improving the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of infectious diseases in children, combining clinical research and trials with laboratory immunology studies. His current research interests focus on the innate and cellular immune response to the BCG (bacille Calmette-Guérin) vaccine, as well as the immunodiagnosis of childhood TB (or not TB). He leads a multidisciplinary research team comprising clinicians, research nurses, laboratory scientists, PhD and other students.
He is the recipient of an NHMRC Investigator Award and has been an investigator on grants totalling more than thirty-five million dollars. He has published more than 400 papers.
He has been the lead investigator on numerous trials including The MIS BAIR Trial, a randomised controlled trial of neonatal BCG vaccination to investigate the immunomodulatory heterologous ('non-specific') effects of this vaccine, including its ability to prevent infections, allergic disease and asthma.
He is the Chief Principal Investigator of The BRACE Trial, a randomised controlled trial of BCG vaccination to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers that has recruited nearly 7000 participants in three continents worldwide.
You can follow his tweets at @nigeltwitt.
Other Affiliations:
• Professor of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne
• Head of Infectious Diseases, The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne
Professor Curtis did his undergraduate medical degree at the University of Cambridge and clinical training at St Mary's Medical School, University of London. He undertook his laboratory training at Imperial College London St Mary's Campus, where he completed a PhD investigating the role of bacterial superantigen toxins in Kawasaki disease and staphylococcal and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. His specialist training in infectious diseases included working at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children and a Fellowship at the British Columbia Children's Hospital. He has also worked for periods in The Gambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Prof Curtis' research focuses on improving the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of infectious diseases in children, combining clinical research and trials with laboratory immunology studies. His current research interests focus on the innate and cellular immune response to the BCG (bacille Calmette-Guérin) vaccine, as well as the immunodiagnosis of childhood TB (or not TB). He leads a multidisciplinary research team comprising clinicians, research nurses, laboratory scientists, PhD and other students.
He is the recipient of an NHMRC Investigator Award and has been an investigator on grants totalling more than thirty-five million dollars. He has published more than 400 papers.
He has been the lead investigator on numerous trials including The MIS BAIR Trial, a randomised controlled trial of neonatal BCG vaccination to investigate the immunomodulatory heterologous ('non-specific') effects of this vaccine, including its ability to prevent infections, allergic disease and asthma.
He is the Chief Principal Investigator of The BRACE Trial, a randomised controlled trial of BCG vaccination to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers that has recruited nearly 7000 participants in three continents worldwide.
You can follow his tweets at @nigeltwitt.
Other Affiliations:
• Professor of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne
• Head of Infectious Diseases, The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne
Professor Nigel Curtis is a paediatric infectious diseases physician and clinician scientist. He is the leader of the Infectious Diseases Research group at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Professor of Paediatric Infectious Diseases at the...
Professor Nigel Curtis is a paediatric infectious diseases physician and clinician scientist. He is the leader of the Infectious Diseases Research group at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Professor of Paediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Melbourne and Head of Infectious Diseases at The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne.
Professor Curtis did his undergraduate medical degree at the University of Cambridge and clinical training at St Mary's Medical School, University of London. He undertook his laboratory training at Imperial College London St Mary's Campus, where he completed a PhD investigating the role of bacterial superantigen toxins in Kawasaki disease and staphylococcal and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. His specialist training in infectious diseases included working at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children and a Fellowship at the British Columbia Children's Hospital. He has also worked for periods in The Gambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Prof Curtis' research focuses on improving the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of infectious diseases in children, combining clinical research and trials with laboratory immunology studies. His current research interests focus on the innate and cellular immune response to the BCG (bacille Calmette-Guérin) vaccine, as well as the immunodiagnosis of childhood TB (or not TB). He leads a multidisciplinary research team comprising clinicians, research nurses, laboratory scientists, PhD and other students.
He is the recipient of an NHMRC Investigator Award and has been an investigator on grants totalling more than thirty-five million dollars. He has published more than 400 papers.
He has been the lead investigator on numerous trials including The MIS BAIR Trial, a randomised controlled trial of neonatal BCG vaccination to investigate the immunomodulatory heterologous ('non-specific') effects of this vaccine, including its ability to prevent infections, allergic disease and asthma.
He is the Chief Principal Investigator of The BRACE Trial, a randomised controlled trial of BCG vaccination to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers that has recruited nearly 7000 participants in three continents worldwide.
You can follow his tweets at @nigeltwitt.
Other Affiliations:
• Professor of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne
• Head of Infectious Diseases, The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne
Professor Curtis did his undergraduate medical degree at the University of Cambridge and clinical training at St Mary's Medical School, University of London. He undertook his laboratory training at Imperial College London St Mary's Campus, where he completed a PhD investigating the role of bacterial superantigen toxins in Kawasaki disease and staphylococcal and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. His specialist training in infectious diseases included working at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children and a Fellowship at the British Columbia Children's Hospital. He has also worked for periods in The Gambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Prof Curtis' research focuses on improving the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of infectious diseases in children, combining clinical research and trials with laboratory immunology studies. His current research interests focus on the innate and cellular immune response to the BCG (bacille Calmette-Guérin) vaccine, as well as the immunodiagnosis of childhood TB (or not TB). He leads a multidisciplinary research team comprising clinicians, research nurses, laboratory scientists, PhD and other students.
He is the recipient of an NHMRC Investigator Award and has been an investigator on grants totalling more than thirty-five million dollars. He has published more than 400 papers.
He has been the lead investigator on numerous trials including The MIS BAIR Trial, a randomised controlled trial of neonatal BCG vaccination to investigate the immunomodulatory heterologous ('non-specific') effects of this vaccine, including its ability to prevent infections, allergic disease and asthma.
He is the Chief Principal Investigator of The BRACE Trial, a randomised controlled trial of BCG vaccination to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers that has recruited nearly 7000 participants in three continents worldwide.
You can follow his tweets at @nigeltwitt.
Other Affiliations:
• Professor of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne
• Head of Infectious Diseases, The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne
Top Publications
- Altunaiji, M, Kukuruzovic, R, Curtis, NC, Massie, J. Antibiotics for whooping cough (pertussis). 2025 view publication
- Tebruegge, M, Pantazidou, A, Yau, C, Chisti, M, Curtis, N. Bacterial tracheitis – tremendously rare, but truly important: A systematic review. Journal of Pediatric Infectious Diseases 04(03) : 199 -209 2025 view publication
- Toh, ZQ, Anderson, J, Mazarakis, N, Neeland, M, Higgins, RA, Rautenbacher, K, Dohle, K, Nguyen, J, Overmars, I, Donato, C, et al. Reduced seroconversion in children compared to adults with mild COVID-19. 2025 view publication
- Toh, ZQ, Mazarakis, N, Nguyen, J, Higgins, RA, Anderson, J, Ha, LA, Burgner, DP, Curtis, N, Steer, AC, Mulholland, K, et al. Comparison of antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 variants in Australian children. 2025 view publication
- Ryan, FJ, Norton, TS, McCafferty, C, Blake, SJ, Stevens, NE, James, J, Eden, GL, Tee, YC, Benson, SC, Masavuli, MG, et al. A systems immunology study comparing innate and adaptive immune responses in adults to COVID-19 mRNA (BNT162b2/mRNA-1273) and adenovirus vectored vaccines (ChAdOx1-S) after the first, second and third doses. 2025 view publication
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