Adam Sebastian Genevieve Curtis (3 January 1934 – 8 August 2017) was a British cell biologist who researched

cell adhesion Cell adhesion is the process by which cells interact and attach to neighbouring cells through specialised molecules of the cell surface. This process can occur either through direct contact between cell surfaces such as Cell_junction, cell junc ...

and

contact inhibition In cell biology, contact inhibition refers to two different but closely related phenomena: contact inhibition of locomotion (CIL) and contact inhibition of proliferation (CIP). CIL refers to the avoidance behavior exhibited by fibroblast-like cell ...

. He worked at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

from 1967 until he became a professor

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

in 2004. He was president of the

Society for Experimental Biology The Society for Experimental Biology is a learned society for animal, cell and plant biologists. It was founded in 1923 at Birkbeck College to "promote the art and science of experimental biology in all its branches". It aims to demonstrate the im ...

from 1993 to 1995 and an elected fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

and

Royal Society of Biology The Royal Society of Biology (RSB), previously called the Society of Biology, is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom created to advance the interests of biology in academia, industry, education, and research. Fo ...

Early life and education

Adam Sebastian Genevieve Curtis was born on 3 January 1934 in London, at the

South London Hospital for Women and Children South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sun ...

. His father, Herbert Lewis Curtis, was an architect who served in World War I by surveying aerial photographs. His mother, Nora Patricia was born in Ireland and studied painting at

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

. He initially planned on studying

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

and applied to King's College and

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. He decided to attend Cambridge and study biology instead of geology. He attended the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

for his PhD, studying in its Institute of Animal Genetics under advisors

C. H. Waddington Conrad Hal Waddington (8 November 1905 – 26 September 1975) was a British developmental biologist, paleontologist, geneticist, embryologist and philosopher who laid the foundations for systems biology, epigenetics, and evolutionary develop ...

and Geoffrey Selman. He then returned to London to complete a post-doctoral research appointment with

Michael Abercrombie Michael Abercrombie (14 August 1912 – 28 May 1979) was a British cell biologist and embryologist. He was one of four children of the poet Lascelles Abercrombie. Early life Michael was born at Ryton near Dymock in Gloucestershire on 14 Au ...

, where he researched

, the mechanisms by which cells stop moving upon contact with another body.

Career

In 1962 he became a lecturer of zoology at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. In 1967, he began working in the newly established Department of Cell Biology at the

, where he thus became the first professor of cell biology in the UK. In 1997 he was a co-founder of the Centre for Cell Engineering at the University of Glasgow along with Chris Wilkinson. He also helped found the Tissue and Cell Engineering Society UK and served as its president from 2001 to 2003. Curtis's observations of cell movement across a surface lead to novel experimentation with using nanovibrations to direct the behavior of

stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can change into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type of cell ...

s, which was called "nanokicking". In 2004 he retired, becoming a professor

. Some of the doctoral students that he advised included

Cheryll Tickle Cheryll Anne Tickle (born 18 January 1945) is a British scientist, known for her work in developmental biology and specifically for her research into the process by which vertebrate limbs develop ''ab ovo''. She is an emeritus professor at the U ...

and Richard B. Gallagher.

Awards and honours

In 1972 he was awarded the Cuvier Medal by the

Zoological Society of France Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction">extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoolo ...

. He was an elected fellow of the

, the

, and of Biomaterials Science and Engineering. He served as the president of the

from 1993 to 1995.

Personal life and death

He married Ann Curtis in 1958; they had met at the University of Edinburgh. They had two daughters together,

Penelope Curtis Penelope Curtis (born 1961) is a British art historian and curator. Fom 2015 to 2020 she was the director of Lisbon's Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, and from 2010 to 2015 director of Tate Britain. She is the author of several monographs on sculptu ...

and Susanna. He died on 8 August 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Adam S 1934 births 2017 deaths British cell biologists Scientists from London Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of the University of Edinburgh