News Features from the Office of the Director
October 19, 2009:
NHGRI Scientists to Showcase Research at Annual American Society of Human Genetics Meeting in Hawaii
 Scientists and staff from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) will catch a wave of genetics and genomics research in Honolulu, Hawaii at the 59th annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG), Oct. 20-24, 2009. From plenary sessions to research posters, leading-edge NHGRI genomic research will be prominently showcased. ( more)
October 8, 2009: NHGRI Uses Recovery Act Funds to Accelerate Genome Research to Improve Human Health
 The National Human Genome Research Institute awards more than $113 million provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The new awards, added to NHGRI's regularly appropriated $367 million budget, will stimulate ground-breaking research ranging from studies aimed at understanding the human genome to those intended to lead to improvements in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human illness. ( more)
October 7, 2009: Finding the Missing Heritability of Complex Diseases
 In the October 8 issue of Nature, Office of Population Genomics Director Teri Manolio, M.D., Ph.D., summarizes NHGRI's February workshop The Dark Matter of Genomic Associations With Complex Diseases: Explaining the Unexplained Heritability From Genome-Wide Association Studies. She and workshop attendees examine the potential sources of missing heritability and propose research strategies. ( more)
September 30, 2009: President Announces Major Recovery Act Funding for The Cancer Genome Atlas Project
 During a visit to the National Institutes of Health, President Barack Obama announced $5 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for medical research across all NIH, including $175 million for The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), a joint project between the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). ( more)
September 29, 2009: Community Colleges Have Their Day at the National Institutes of Health
 Students from Baltimore and Washington area community colleges get a different taste of campus life on the last Friday of September while participating in the first Community College Day at the National Institutes of Health. ( more)
August 4, 2009: Genetics Pioneer, Former NHGRI Advisor to Receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
 President Barack Obama has chosen Janet Davison Rowley, M.D., a pioneering cancer genetics researcher and longtime advisor to the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), to receive a 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom. ( more)
July 20, 2009: Stimulus Funds Support Student's Summer Job, Future Dreams
 Thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), 19-year-old Aida Mohammadreza — and thousands of other science-minded students across the nation - are hard at work in jobs that yield far more than a paycheck. ( more)
June 22, 2009: Making a Mightier Knockout Mouse
 A team supported with partial funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has figured out how to build a better "knockout" mouse, a key research tool for exploring the genetic factors involved in health and disease. ( more)
May 18, 2009: Online GWAS Catalog Helps Guide Disease Research
 Thanks to the efforts of a dedicated team of National Human Genome Research Institute scientists, researchers now have an online resource that can make hunting for published genome-wide association studies a bit less daunting. ( more)
May 18, 2009: NHGRI Creates Informed Consent Web Resource for Genomic Research
 The National Human Genome Research Institute has developed an online Web resource with the goal of providing the research community with the information needed to develop complete and reliable informed consent materials for genomics-related research projects, such as genome-wide association (GWA) and genome-sequencing studies. ( more)
May 5, 2009: Resources for Understanding the Novel Influenza A Outbreak
 Outbreaks of a novel strain of the H1N1 influenza (previously known as Swine Flu) have been detected in humans in multiple states in the United States as well as Mexico and other countries in the spring of 2009. ( more)
April 8, 2009: HHS Issues New Guidance on GINA
 Biomedical researchers who want to learn more about the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) — and what it means for their research and the informed consent process — should check out a new guidance document from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). ( more)
April 6, 2009: What Are You Doing for National DNA Day?
 As the seventh annual National DNA Day approaches, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), along with students, teachers, researchers and health professionals across the country, are gearing up to celebrate the key molecule of life. ( more)
February 23, 2009: Sequencing Projects Offer Renewed Hope for Cancer Research
 Cancer is a formidable illness. The World Health Organization predicts that it may overtake heart disease as the number one killer of humans by 2010. Despite this grim forecast, there is renewed hope in the cancer research community from early results of cancer genome sequencing projects targeting brain, lung and leukemia that have provided the most comprehensive look yet of the genetic glitches responsible for these deadly diseases.( more)
February 17, 2009: Free Online Tutorials Teach Anyone How to Use Genome Databases
 For researchers not trained in the relatively new field of bioinformatics - which applies information technology and computer programming to the field of molecular biology - the complex information flooding the public databases can be overwhelming. Now, a number of federal research centers and institutes have increased Web-based training to enable any molecular biologist to use the public databases to advance genomic research. National Human Genome Research Institute has funded the latest tutorials to provide essential training on the use of model organism genome databases. ( more)
December 2008: Pilot Program Coordinates Education in Genomic Medicine
 The National Human Genome Research Institute and the University of Virginia recently initiated a pilot program to help physician assistants and nursing educators jointly develop common training materials on genomic medicine. The materials will be freely available on a Web site that helps both professions achieve competence in the emerging field of genomic medicine.
( more)
November 2008: Do You Know Your Family's Health History?
 Acting Surgeon General Rear Admiral Steven K. Galson, M.D., M.P.H., has declared this Thanksgiving the fifth annual National Family History Day. Since 2004, the Surgeon General has urged all Americans to use this time of family gatherings to protect their family's future health by learning about and recording their medical history. ( more)
October 2008: NHGRI Shares Wealth of Science at ASHG Meeting
 Research from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) will be featured prominently at the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) annual meeting, Nov. 11 to 15, 2008, in Philadelphia. From the exhibitor floor to the plenary halls, NHGRI participation points to its range of outstanding research and its leading role in genetic and genomics research. ( more)
August 2008: Alan E. Guttmacher, M.D., Becomes NHGRI's Acting Director
 Alan Edward Guttmacher, M.D., a nationally recognized pediatrician and medical geneticist who has played major leadership roles at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) for nearly a decade, became Acting Director of NHGRI on Aug. 2, 2008. He replaces Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., who stepped down after 15 years at the helm of NHGRI to pursue other professional opportunities.
( more)
July 2008: NHGRI Pays Tribute to a Giant of Medical Genetics
 Victor Almon McKusick, M.D., University Professor of Medical Genetics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, one of the two distinguished Johns Hopkins geneticists for whom the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine was named, and a towering international figure in genetics research, diagnosis and treatment, died Tuesday, July 22 at home. He was 86.
The relentlessly energetic clinician scholar, a pioneer in the pursuit of the links between inheritance and disease, died at home, of complications due to cancer. ( more)
May 2008: Statement By Michael O. Leavitt Secretary of Health and Human Services
 On the resignation of Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, May 28, 2008. ( more)
April 2008: NHGRI Director to Receive International Ethics Prize
 In recognition of his continuing efforts to improve human health through genetic research and his support of ethical, legal and social implications analysis of genomic science, Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, will be awarded the inaugural Inamori Ethics Prize this fall. ( more)
March 2008: NHGRI-Supported Research Earns High Impact Ranking
 A recent independent analysis published in the January/February 2008 issue of Thomson Scientific's Science Watch, shows that the National Human Genome Research Institute holds the second highest "citation impact" in the rapidly expanding field of molecular biology and genetics research from 2002-2006. ( more)
January 2008: Janis Mullaney Joins NHGRI as Executive Officer
 Janis Mullaney has joined the National Human Genome Research Insitute as executive officer, a position that oversees virtually every management function of the institute. ( more)
January 2008: New Directions in NHGRI Office of the Director
 To advance its efforts to build upon the foundation laid by the sequencing of the human genome in a swift and efficient manner, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) has made several key staff changes in the Office of the Director. ( more)
December 2007: Bringing the Genomic Revolution to the Public
 Genome-wide association studies have begun identifying the numerous genes involved in many common diseases. To speed the application of these state-of-the-art genomic technologies with the rigorous methods of epidemiology, the National Human Genome Research Institute recently established the Office of Population Genomics to lay a solid groundwork for translating the results into improved medical care. ( more)
October 2007: American Society of Human Genetics' Meeting Showcases NHGRI Research
 Investigators from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) will figure prominently at the 57 th annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) taking place Oct. 23-27, 2007 in San Diego. ( more)
August 2007: Building Bridges: Moving Genomics Into Clinical Care
 The National Human Genome Research Institute has recently created the Genomic Healthcare Branch to help bridge the gap between genomic discoveries made in the research lab and the realities faced by patients and healthcare providers in the clinic. ( more)
June 2007: Researchers Can Apply Now for Access to GAIN Data
 The Genetic Association Information Network (GAIN) is now accepting applications from researchers who want access to the rich trove of data that its genome-wide association studies of common diseases will begin generating within the next few months. (more)
April 2007: Mary Affeldt Joins NHGRI as Executive Officer
The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) selects Mary Affeldt, a senior manager at the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), to be its Executive Officer. She replaces Frederick Walker, who retired in January. ( more)
April 2007: Moving Genomic Medicine into the Doctor's Office
 W. Gregory Feero, M.D., Ph.D., joins the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) as the Senior Advisor to the Director for Genomic Medicine. In this position, he plays a key role in guiding the institute as it works to convert the discoveries of genomic research into advances in clinical medicine. ( more)
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Last Updated: October 1, 2009
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