Curtis Nutter, PhD

Assistant Professor

Curtis Nutter, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Missouri and a member of the NextGen Precision Health Initiative. He received his doctoral training in biochemistry and molecular biology with a focus on RNA regulation in muscle development and disease, followed by postdoctoral training centered on RNA biology, multisystem inherited disorders, and disease-relevant model generation. Together, this training shaped a multidisciplinary approach spanning RNA splicing and transport, epithelial and biofluid biology, and integrative mouse modeling of human genetic disease.

Dr. Nutter’s research perspective emphasizes non-neuronal contributors to neurological disease, particularly epithelial tissues that regulate critical biofluids such as cerebrospinal fluid and aqueous humour. By integrating mechanistic RNA biology with physiologically grounded systems, his work bridges neuroscience, epithelial biology, and neuromuscular disease to uncover shared molecular drivers of pathology across organ systems.

As a mentor and collaborator, Dr. Nutter is committed to rigorous experimental design and training students to think across scales-from RNA-level regulation to organism-level physiology. He is actively involved in interdisciplinary research within the NextGen building and contributes to graduate and medical education through problem-based learning and team-taught courses. His work is supported by peer-reviewed publications and competitive funding and underpins a growing research program focused on RNA-driven mechanisms of disease and therapeutic discovery.