David Curtis was a pioneer in the identification of excitatory and inhibitory transmitters released at synapses in the central nervous system. He made major contributions to the identification of gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) and glycine as inhibitory transmitters released at inhibitory synapses. His work laid the foundation for the subsequent acceptance that l-glutamate was the major excitatory transmitter. David's scientific work led to him receiving many accolades and honours, including

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... lowships of the Australian Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society and a Companion of the Order of Australia.Note: This memoir was commissioned by the Historical Records of Australian Science and is published here with minor amendments. It was published in June 2020 and is available at https://doi.org/10.1071/HR19016.