Nicola Curtin

Nicola Curtin is an English cancer researcher and academic. She is Professor of Experimental Cancer Therapeutics at Newcastle University. She is best known for being part of the Newcastle University team that developed Rubraca, a PARP inhibitor used as an anti-cancer agent addressing BRCA mutation, and for donating her share of the royalties to charity.

Education Curtin received her undergraduate degree in biology from the University of York in 1975. She studied liver carcinogenesis and received her MSc from the University of Manchester in 1977 followed by her PhD from the University of Surrey in 1981. Newcastle University sold the royalties for Rubraca for $31 million.

Curtin's academic publications have been cited over 17,000 times, resulting in an h-index of 64 and an i10-index of 156.

She was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2022.

Curtin PARP Fund at the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland Curtin used the royalties she received from Rubraca (around £865,000) to establish the Curtin PARP (Passionate About Realising your Potential) Fund at the Community Foundation in Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, which is a non-profit organization that matches funds to different community causes. It is aimed at helping disadvantaged people gain access to education and employment opportunities. Curtin was inspired to create this fund by the realization that despite the years of hard work, the monetary success was largely due to luck.

Selected publications