Upon receiving his medical degree, Curiel completed his internship and residency at Emory in 1985 and his fellowships in pulmonary medicine and biotechnology at the National Institutes of Health in 1990.
[9] Curiel also served as the principal investigator (PI) of a team researching how to develop unique methods of delivering genes to specific targets.
[2] As Director of the Division of Human Gene Therapy, Curiel oversaw a consortium of scientists who modified an adenovirus that reproduces inside tumor cells in order to eradicate them called Delta-24-RGD.
[20] His use of viral vector technology to optimize the immune system's response to vaccines earned him one of the 2015 Bear Cub Challenge award from the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
[22] In 2019, he received funding from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences to support his research into discovering new therapeutics for genetic diseases.
[25] Early in the pandemic, Curiel and Michael S. Diamond re-engineered Adenovirus to carry the Sars-Covid2 spike gene in order to protect against infection and sterilize the upper airways.
Their single-dose, nasal vaccine was proven successful in mice and nonhuman primates which led them to begin trials in India with Bharat Biotech.
[28] In late January 2023, the nasal vaccine received approval from India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh to be added to the primary 2-dose schedule.