Annie Curtis facts for kids

Annie Curtis is an Irish scientist who studies the immune system. She works at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Dr. Curtis has worked in universities, for the government, and in private companies. She is famous for her research on how our body clock can help control diseases that cause inflammation.

Her Early Studies

Annie Curtis studied genetics at Trinity College Dublin from 1994 to 1998. After that, she went to the University of Pennsylvania for her PhD. She studied how medicines work from 2001 to 2006. During this time, she learned about body clocks. She discovered how these clocks affect our heart and blood vessels.

Her Amazing Career

After finishing her PhD in 2006, Dr. Curtis joined GlaxoSmithKline in Philadelphia. She was a lead scientist there until 2008. Her team looked for special signs in the body called biomarkers. These signs could show if someone was at risk for heart problems.

From 2008 to 2010, she worked for Science Foundation Ireland (SFI). Then, she became a medical advisor at Bristol-Myers Squibb. She helped with treatments that use the body's own immune system.

Researching Body Clocks

In 2011, Annie Curtis joined Professor Luke O'Neill's lab at Trinity College Dublin. In 2014, she received a special grant from SFI. This allowed her to start her own research group. Her team began studying how body clocks affect our immune system.

In August 2016, Dr. Curtis moved to the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She became a research lecturer there. Her work has helped us understand diseases like multiple sclerosis. These diseases are often linked to problems with the body's natural clock.

Awards and Recognition

Annie Curtis has received several important awards for her work:

• 2017: She won the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science UK & Ireland Fellowship. This award celebrates women in science.
• 2012: She was named Researcher of the Year at the Trinity Biomedical Science Institute. She also won the Roche Medal from Roche Pharmaceuticals.
• 2006: She received the Junior Investigator Award for Women from ATVB. This award is for young researchers studying blood vessel diseases.