Dr. Curtiss attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as an undergraduate, receiving a BS in Biochemistry and BA in Biology and worked in the lab of John Osterman. She completed a postbaccalaureate year at NIH-NIAID (Laboratory of Immunogenetics) in the IRTA program working in the lab of Silvia Bolland on the immunophenotype of mice with the lupus accelerator gene Yaa (since identified as a TLR7 gene duplication). She then completed her MD/PhD at the University of Iowa with a Ph.D. in Immunology in the laboratory of Paul Rothman studying the role of the transmembrane protein Tim-1 (HAVCR-1) in a mouse model of allergic airway disease and studying the initial signaling events downstream of Tim-1 ligation in lymphocytes. She was accepted into the ABIM Research Track at UAB where she completed her residency and a dual fellowship training in Allergy/Immunology and Pulmonary.