With the increased space, several new Departments and Units were established during the next decade (Fenner and Curtis, 2001). Adrien Albert moved the Department of Medical Chemistry from London to his four-storey laboratories in Canberra; over the next decade his academic staff increased from seven to 15 and his PhD students from one to 12. A Department of Physical Biochemistry was established in 1959, with Alexander (Sandy) Ogston, from Oxford University, as Head; its academic staff grew from three in 1959 to a maximum of nine in 1965, and PhD students from one in 1959 to five in 1966. In 1964, David Catcheside, an Englishman who had been Professor of Genetics in the University of Adelaide from 1952 to 1954, and then returned to England, accepted the Chair of Human Genetics. In 1967, he became the Foundation Director of the newly established Research School of Biological Sciences in the ANU, but in the three years he was in the John Curtin School, the academic staff increased from two to six and the number of PhD students from one to nine. The establishment of a Department of Clinical Science was accepted by the University Council and the Canberra Hospital Board in 1964, but the Foundation Professor, Malcolm Whyte, was not appointed until 1966.

In addition, two small units were set up. The Biological Inorganic Chemistry Unit, headed by Francis Dwyer, was established in 1959 and continued until 1966, although Dwyer died in 1961. Although electron microscopy had been available in the School since 1955, an Electron Microscope Unit, headed by Edgar Mercer, was established in 1963 and greatly strengthened this service.

The other four existing Departments: Biochemistry, Experimental Pathology, Physiology and Microbiology, also increased their staffing, PhD student numbers and output of publications.