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Chronology of Events
1700 | 1800 | 1900 | 1910 | 1920 | 1930 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 |
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1700 |
1798 |
The Marine Hospital Service was established with the July 16 signing by President John Adams of an act for the relief of sick and
disabled seamen. |
1799 |
An amending
act of March 2 extended benefits of the Marine Hospital Service
to officers and men of the U.S. Navy. |
|
1800 |
1802 |
The
admission of foreign seamen to Marine hospitals on a reimbursable
basis was authorized on May 3. |
1803 |
The first permanent
Marine hospital was authorized on May 3 to be built in Boston,
Mass. |
1807 |
Dr.
Benjamin Waterhouse was appointed physician in charge of the
Boston Marine Hospital on November 27. He was the first to introduce
interns and residents into hospitals in the United States. |
1836 |
The Library
of the Office of the Surgeon General of the Army was established
(the present National Library of Medicine). |
1865 |
John
Shaw Billings, M.D., was assigned to supervise the Surgeon General's
Library, which he built into a national resource of biomedical
literature. |
1870 |
A bill dated
June 29 provided for administration of Marine hospitals within
a Bureau of the Treasury Department with a medical officer in
charge. |
1871 |
Dr.
John Maynard Woodworth was appointed supervising surgeon of the
Marine Hospital Service in April, marking the beginning of central
control of Marine hospitals. |
1873 |
Regulations
were approved on December 1 for appointment and promotion of
physicians in the Marine Hospital Service, establishing the first
career service for civilian employees in the Federal Government. |
1875 |
A
bill passed on March 3 authorized admission of Navy seamen and
seamen of other government services to Marine hospitals on a
reimbursable basis.
In recognition of Dr. Woodworth's progress in reorganizing
the Marine Hospital Service, his title was changed by law to
supervising Surgeon General on March 3. |
1878 |
The first Federal
Quarantine Act was passed April 29.
On December 21, Congress appropriated funds "for investigating
the origin and causes of epidemic diseases, especially yellow
fever and cholera." |
1879 |
The
National Board of Health was created by law on March 3. It represented
the first organized, comprehensive, national medical research
effort of the Federal Government.
Dr. John B. Hamilton was appointed Surgeon General of the
Marine Hospital Service, April 3. |
1884 |
The seamen's
hospital tax was abolished on July 1. The cost of maintaining
Marine hospitals was paid out of a tonnage tax, which continued
until 1906. |
1887 |
A
bacteriological laboratory, known as the Laboratory of Hygiene,
was established under Dr. Joseph J. Kinyoun at the Marine Hospital,
Staten Island, N.Y., in August, for research on cholera and other
infectious diseases (renamed Hygienic Laboratory in 1891.) |
1889 |
The commissioned
corps was authorized on January 4 establishing by law the policy
of a mobile corps subject to duty anywhere upon assignment. |
1890 |
Congress
gave the Marine Hospital Service interstate quarantine authority
on March 27. |
1891 |
The Hygienic
Laboratory moved from Staten Island, N.Y., to the Butler Building,
Service Headquarters, Washington, D.C., in June.
Dr. Walter Wyman was appointed Surgeon General of the Marine
Hospital Service on June 1. |
1893 |
A
new Quarantine Act, passed February 15, strengthened the Quarantine
Act of 1878 and repealed the act establishing the National Board
of Health. |
1899 |
The Marine Hospital
Service was directed by Congress on March 2 to investigate leprosy
in the United States.
Dr. Milton J. Rosenau succeeded Dr. Kinyoun as director of
the Hygienic Laboratory on May 1. |
|
1900 |
1902 |
The earliest studies of Rocky Mountain spotted fever took place in
Montana.
A bill approved July 1 changed the name of the Marine Hospital
Service to the Public Health and Marine Hospital Service and
established an advisory board for the Hygienic Laboratory.
It later became the National Advisory Health Council.
The 57th Congress enacted Public Law 244 to regulate the shipment
of biologics. The technical responsibilities of the program
were assigned to the Hygienic Laboratory.
The Advisory Board for the Biologics Control Division was
established July 1.
The Pan American Sanitary Bureau was established December
2. The Public Health and Marine Hospital Service began international
health cooperation. |
1904 |
The Hygienic Laboratory moved to a new building on a 5-acre tract at 25th
and E Streets NW, Washington, D.C., on March 16. |
1906 |
Medical care for merchant seamen and other beneficiaries of the Public
Health and Marine Hospital Service began to be supported by direct
congressional appropriations, with the repeal of the tonnage
tax on June 30. |
1909 |
Dr. John F.
Anderson was appointed Hygienic Laboratory director on October
1. |
|
1910 |
1912 |
Dr.
Rupert Blue was appointed Surgeon General of the Public Health
and Marine Hospital Service on January 13.
The name Public Health and Marine Hospital Service was changed
to Public Health Service (PHS) on August 14, and the research
program was expanded to include other-than-communicable diseases
field investigations, navigable stream pollution, and information
dissemination. |
1914 |
Dr. Joseph Goldberger
announced his views of pellagra as a dietary deficiency, emphasizing
the importance of dietary deficiency diseases. |
1915 |
Dr.
George W. McCoy was appointed Hygienic Laboratory director on
November 20. |
1918 |
The Chamberlain-Kahn
Act, passed July 9, provided for the study of venereal diseases.
The PHS made grants to 25 institutions, establishing a precedent
for the Federal Government to seek assistance of scientists through
grants.
The PHS reserve corps was established by law on October 27,
during the influenza pandemic, as a means of coping with the
emergencies. |
|
1920 |
1920 |
Dr.
Hugh Smith Cumming was appointed PHS Surgeon General on March
3. |
1921 |
The Rocky Mountain
Spotted Fever Laboratory was established in a former school building
in Hamilton, Mont., on September 20 as a recognized PHS field
station. |
1922 |
The
Library of the Office of the Surgeon General (Army) was renamed
the Army Medical Library in January.
A Special Cancer Investigations Laboratory was established
by PHS investigators at Harvard Medical School on August 1. |
1929 |
On January 19,
the Narcotics Control Act was passed, authorizing construction
of two hospitals for drug addicts, and creation of a PHS Narcotics
Division. |
|
1930 |
1930 |
On
April 9, the Advisory Board for the Hygienic Laboratory became
the National Advisory Health Council.
On May 26 the Ransdell Act redesignated the Hygienic Laboratory
as the National Institute of Health, authorizing $750,000 for
construction of two buildings for NIH, and creating a system
of fellowships.
On June 14, Public Law 357 authorized creation of a separate
Bureau of Narcotics in the Treasury Department and changed
the PHS Narcotics Division to the Division of Mental Hygiene.
The law gave the Surgeon General authority to investigate the
causes, treatment, and prevention of mental and nervous diseases. |
1935 |
A narcotic "farm" at
Lexington, Ky., was completed and opened on May 29.
On August 10, Mr. and Mrs. Luke I. Wilson made a gift of 45
acres of their estate "Tree Tops" for use of the National Institute
of Health in Bethesda, MD.
Title VI of the Social Security Act was passed August 14 authorizing
the expenditure of up to $2 million on health grants to the
states for "investigation of disease and problems of sanitation." |
1936 |
Dr.
Thomas Parran was appointed PHS Surgeon General on April 6. |
1937 |
The Rocky Mountain
Laboratory became part of the National Institute of Health in
February, and was administratively made part of the Division
of Infectious Diseases.
Dr. Lewis R. Thompson was appointed director of the National
Institute of Health on February 1.
With the reorganization of the National Institute of Health
into eight divisions, the biologics control program, previously
the responsibility of the Division of Pathology and Bacteriology,
NIH, was assigned to a newly established Division of Biologics
Control (redesignated Biologics Control Laboratory, 1944).
The National Cancer Institute Act was signed on July 23. |
1938 |
The
National Advisory Cancer Council recommended approval of the
first awards for fellowships in cancer research on January 3.
Mrs. Luke I. Wilson made a second gift of 10.7 acres, to NIH
on May 28.
The cornerstone for Building 1 was laid June 30.
Congress approved construction of new, larger laboratory facilities,
and NIH moved to Bethesda, MD., in July.
Mrs. Luke I. Wilson made a third gift, 14.4 acres of land,
to NIH on September 30.
The narcotics hospital at Fort Worth, Tex., was dedicated
on October 28. |
1939 |
Under a Reorganization
Act dated April 3, the PHS was transferred from the Treasury
Department to the Federal Security Agency. |
|
1940 |
1940 |
Mrs.
Luke I. Wilson made a fourth gift, 11.6 acres of land, to NIH
on September 27.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the buildings and
the grounds of the National Institute of Health on October
31. |
1942 |
Dr. Rolla Eugene
Dyer was appointed director of the National Institute of Health
on February 1.
A final gift of land was made by Mrs. Luke I. Wilson on March
17 bringing the total to 92 acres. This was the nucleus of
the present 306.4-acre reservation. Additional land was acquired
through a series of purchases. |
1943 |
NIH
was given bureau status in the PHS on November 11. |
1944 |
The PHS act
was approved on July 1, consolidating and revising existing public
health legislation, and giving NIH the legislative basis for
its postwar program, with general authority to conduct research.
Under this act NCI became a division of NIH. |
1946 |
The
Research Grants Office was created at NIH in January to administer
the Office of Scientific Research and Development projects transferred
to the PHS at the end of World War II and to operate a program
of extramural research grants and fellowship awards.
The National Mental Health Act was passed July 3.
On August 12, the Research Grants Office became the Research
Grants Division (later renamed Division of Research Grants).
The division was instructed by the National Advisory Health
Council to establish study sections for scientific and technical
review of research grant applications, and to explore neglected
areas of research in the health sciences.
The Hospital Survey and Construction Act, introduced by Senators
Lister Hill and Harold H. Burton, was passed on August 13,
authorizing the Hill- Burton program. |
1948 |
Dr. Leonard
A. Scheele was appointed PHS Surgeon General on April 6.
On June 16 the National Heart Act was signed. It authorized
the National Heart Institute and changed the name of the National
Institute of Health to National Institutes of Health.
The National Dental Research Act, passed June 24, authorized
the National Institute of Dental Research.
The National Heart Institute was established August 1.
The National Institute of Dental Research was established
September 16.
Construction of the Clinical Center was started in November.
The National Microbiological Institute and the Experimental
Biology and Medicine Institute were established on November
1.
The Rocky Mountain Laboratory and Biologics Control Laboratory
became two of the four components of the National Microbiological
Institute on November 1. |
1949 |
The
purchase of 115.8 acres from the Town & Country Golf Club,
Inc., for $600,000 was concluded February 11.
The purchase of 47.9 acres of land from Mr. and Mrs. G. Freeland
Peter for $505,000 was concluded on February 14.
The National Institute of Mental Health was established on
April 15, with the abolishment of the Division of Mental Hygiene.
The first issue of The NIH Record was published May 20.
The purchase of 50.2 acres of land from the Sisters of the
Visitation for $173,058 was concluded on June 28.
Dr. Frank B. Rogers became director of the Army Medical Library
in October. |
|
1950 |
1950 |
The
Omnibus Medical Research Act, signed August 15, authorized the
National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness and
the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases, the
latter absorbing the Experimental Biology and Medicine Institute.
The act also gave the Surgeon General authority to establish
new institutes.
Dr. William H. Sebrell, Jr. was appointed NIH director on
October 1.
The National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness
and the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases
were established November 22. |
1951 |
The first R. E. Dyer Lecture was given by Dr. George W. Beadle, California
Institute of Technology, June 21.
President Harry S. Truman laid the Clinical Center cornerstone
on June 22. |
1952 |
The
Army Medical Library was renamed Armed Forces Medical Library
in April. |
1953 |
The first NIH
Lecture was given on January 21 by Dr. Severo Ochoa of New York
University College of Medicine.
PHS became part of the newly created Department of Health,
Education, and Welfare on April 11.
The Clinical Center was dedicated on July 2, extending the
clinical dimension of PHS research programs.
The first patient was admitted to the Clinical Center on July
6. |
1954 |
A
central data processing facility was established in the Office
of the Director, NIH.
The NIH Graduate School Program began on September 27. |
1955 |
The biologics
control function was placed in the newly formed Division of Biologics
Standards in June. The Division of Research Services and Division
of Business Operations were also formed.
The Cancer Chemotherapy National Service Center was established
April 1 to coordinate the first national cancer chemotherapy
program.
The Mental Health Study Act was passed July 28.
Dr. James A. Shannon was appointed NIH director on August
1.
The National Microbiological Institute became the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) by order
of the Surgeon General on December 29. The Biologics Control
Laboratory was detached from the institute and expanded to
division status within NIH. |
1956 |
In
January the biometric facility became the Biometrics Branch in
the new Division of Research Services.
Dr. Leroy E. Burney was appointed PHS Surgeon General August
8.
The Armed Forces Medical Library was designated the National
Library of Medicine (NLM) and placed under PHS October 1. |
1957 |
The Center for
Aging Research was established November 27 as the focal center
for NIH extramural activities in gerontology. |
1958 |
On
July 16 the Division of General Medical Sciences was established
by order of the Surgeon General, extending research into noncategorical
areas covered until that time by the Division of Research Grants.
The Center for Aging Research was transferred from the National
Heart Institute to the Division of General Medical Sciences
on November 4. |
1959 |
The Office of
Administrative Management was formed July 15, consolidating the
Division of Business Operations and other managerial responsibilities.
Congress appropriated $2 million for the establishment of
one or two private research centers on August 19. |
|
1960 |
1960 |
On March 8 the Surgeon General approved establishment of a Computation
and Data Processing Branch in the Division of Research Services.
NIH acquired 513 acres of farmland near Poolesville, MD.,
on May 6. This land became the site of the NIH Animal Center.
The International Health Research Act was passed July 12,
extending NIH international programs. |
1961 |
The Surgeon
General established the Center for Research in Child Health in
the Division of General Medical Sciences on February 17.
Dr. Luther L. Terry was appointed PHS Surgeon General March
24.
On May 26, DHEW Secretary Abraham A. Ribicoff dedicated the
new NIDR building.
The first Jules Freund Lecture was given by Dr. Merrill W.
Chase of the Rockefeller Institute on November 15.
The NIH European Office was established in Paris, France,
on December 18. |
1962 |
The
NIH Latin American Office was established in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, July 1.
The Division of Research Facilities and Resources was established
July 15.
Public Law 87-838, passed October 17, authorized the National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National
Institute of General Medical Sciences.
Five acres of land for a Gerontology Research Center were
donated by the City of Baltimore in December. |
1963 |
The NIH Pacific
Office was established in Tokyo, Japan, on January 1.
The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences were
established on January 30.
The Center for Research in Child Health and the Center for
Research in Aging (established in 1956) were transferred from
NIGMS to NICHD.
The surgical wing for the Clinical Center was dedicated September
5.
The first NIH International Lecture was given October 31 by
Dr. Walsh McDermott of Cornell University Medical College. |
1964 |
The
Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System (MEDLARS) became
operational at the NLM in January.
The Division of Computer Research and Technology was established
on April 16.
On September 19 Congress authorized planning funds for a central
environmental health research facility.
A special virus-leukemia program was initiated under a special
appropriation, included in the FY 1965 appropriation signed
into law on September 19. |
1965 |
On January 7,
the Surgeon General announced that the National Environmental
Health Sciences Center would be located in Research Triangle
Park, N.C.
The NIH Animal Center, Poolesville, MD., officially opened
May 27 with 2 days of orientation for NIH employees, area residents
and the press after completion of the first of three phases
of an $18 million construction program.
NIH received a $20,250,000 supplemental appropriation on August
31 to intensify and expand support of research in heart disease,
cancer, stroke and related diseases.
Dr. William H. Stewart, appointed PHS Surgeon General September
24, took office on October 2.
A reorganization of the DHEW provided for an expansion of
the secretary's office with the creation of three new assistant
secretaries, including an assistant secretary for health and
scientific affairs.
Dr. Philip R. Lee was appointed to the new position of assistant
secretary for health and scientific affairs on November 2. |
1966 |
The
Division of Regional Medical Programs was created on February
1 to administer grants under the Heart Disease, Cancer and Stroke
Amendments of 1965. Dr. Robert Q. Marston was appointed NIH associate
director for regional medical programs and chief of the division.
At a White House meeting June 27, the NIH director and institute
directors discussed with the President how the benefits of
research findings in health could be brought more rapidly to
all the people. Later in the year, a report to the President
described current NIH research efforts on the major U.S. disease
problems and set forth the status of those problems, the nature
of present and planned investigative efforts and the problems
of and opportunities for further research.
A Division of Environmental Health Sciences was established
in NIH November 1 to conduct, foster and coordinate research
on the biological, chemical, and physical effects of environmental
agents. Dr. Paul Kotin, scientific director for etiology, NCI,
was named director of the new division.
An advisory committee to the NIH director was appointed on
November 9 to provide advice on the further development of
NIH research and related programs. |
1967 |
The National
Institute of Mental Health was separated from NIH and raised
to bureau status in PHS by a reorganization that became effective
January 1. NIMH's Division of Clinical, Behavioral and Biological
Research, within the mental health Intramural Research Program,
comprising activities con- ducted in the Clinical Center and
other NIH facilities, continued here under an agreement for joint
administration between the two companion bureaus. The Toxicology
Information Program was established at NLM, January 1, in response
to recommendations of the President's Science Advisory Committee.
The program includes the entire range of chemical effects on
living organisms.
The PHS Audiovisual Facility, renamed the National Medical
Audiovisual Center, became an NLM component July 1.
On September 26, the deed for 509.25 acres of Research Triangle
Park, N.C., to serve as a permanent site for the Division of
Environmental Health Sciences, was presented to the Surgeon
General. |
1968 |
Establishment
of the John E. Fogarty International Center for Advanced Study
in the Health Sciences (FIC) was given departmental approval
February 26. The center became operational on July 1, at which
time the NIH Office of International Research was abolished and
certain of its functions were transferred to FIC and NIAID.
Under a reorganization of health activities announced on April
1, NIH assumed status as a new operating agency within the
department, with the NIH director reporting directly to the
assistant secretary for health and scientific Affairs. Under
the reorganization, the Bureau of Health Manpower and the National
Library of Medicine became components of NIH.
On June 15 the four-story $7.5 million Gerontology Research
Center building, located at and operated in cooperation with
Baltimore City Hospitals, was officially opened.
A proposed facility to house the biomedical communications
network was designated the Lister Hill National Center for
Biomedical Communications by passage of P.L. 90-456 on August
3.
Established by the DHEW secretary on August 9, the Center
for Population Research conducts a contract and grant program
in population and reproduction research. The center was designated
by the President as the primary Federal agency responsible
for population research and training.
On August 16 the National Eye Institute was created to build
an enlarged program based on blindness research formerly conducted
in the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness.
The legislation also changed the NINDB name to the National
Institute of Neurological Diseases.
Dr. Robert Q. Marston was sworn in as NIH director on August
29.
A Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded on October
16 to Dr. Marshall W. Nirenberg, chief of NIH's Laboratory
of Biochemical Genetics, for discovering the key to deciphering
the genetic code. He was the first NIH Nobel laureate, and
the first Federal employee to receive a Nobel Prize.
On October 24 the President signed into law (P.L. 90-639)
legislation changing the name of the NIND to the National Institute
of Neurological Diseases and Stroke.
The National Eye Institute was established on December 26. |
1969 |
A further reorganization
of the NIH internal structure announced January 4 renamed the
Bureau of Health Manpower as the Bureau of Health Professions
Education and Manpower Training and expanded it to include seven
divisions, one of which was the Division of Research Resources
(DRR).
The Division of Environmental Health Sciences was elevated
to institute status on January 12, thus becoming the 10th NIH
institute.
Dr. Roger O. Egeberg was named DHEW assistant secretary for
health and scientific affairs on July 14, succeeding Dr. Lee.
On November 10, the DHEW secretary redesignated the National
Heart Institute as the National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI). |
|
1970 |
1970 |
A
reorganization of the Bureau of Health Professions Education
and Manpower Training renamed it the Bureau of Health Manpower
Education on September 18. DRR was separated from the bureau
and became a division within NIH. |
1971 |
Dr. Merlin K.
DuVal was appointed DHEW assistant secretary for health and scientific
affairs on July 1, succeeding Dr. Egeberg.
The White House Conference on Aging recommended creating a
separate National Institute on Aging on December 2.
On December 23 the President signed the National Cancer Act
of 1971 initiating a National Cancer Program, establishing
the President's Cancer Panel, a National Cancer Advisory Board
and 15 new research, training and demonstration cancer centers. |
1972 |
The
National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases was renamed
the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism, and Digestive
Diseases on May 19. On July 1, DBS transferred from NIH and officially
became a sixth bureau, the Bureau of Biologics in the Food and
Drug Administration. The bureau continues to use NIH facilities
and buildings.
The DHEW secretary approved a reorganization of NHLI on July
14, elevating the institute to bureau status within NIH. A
bureau-level organization was established for the National
Cancer Institute on July 27.
On October 25 Public Law 92-564 established a temporary National
Commission on Multiple Sclerosis (supported by NINDS).
Dr. Christian B. Anfinsen, NIAMDD, won the Nobel Prize in
Chemistry for his work on ribonuclease. |
1973 |
Dr. Charles
C. Edwards was appointed DHEW assistant secretary for health
on April 18, succeeding Dr. DuVal.
Dr. Robert S. Stone was sworn in as the 10th NIH director
on May 29.
The Bureau of Health Manpower Education was transferred from
NIH to the new Health Resources Administration on July 1 and
renamed the Bureau of Health Resources Development.
The National Institute of Mental Health rejoined the National
Institutes of Health on July 1. On September 25, NIMH became
part of the new Alcoholism, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration. |
1974 |
The
Research on Aging Act of 1974, creating the National Institute
on Aging, was signed into law on May 31.
On July 23, the National Cancer Act Amendments of 1974 were
signed by the President to improve the National Cancer Program.
It also established a President's Biomedical Research Panel.
The National Institute on Aging was established on October
7.
The Interagency Primate Steering Committee was established
by the DHEW assistant secretary for health with NIH as the
lead agency.
Institutional Relations Branch was transferred on October
27 from DRG to the immediate Office of the Director, NIH, and
renamed the Office for Protection From Research Risks. |
1975 |
On March 13
the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke was
renamed the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative
Disorders and Stroke.
Dr. Theodore Cooper was appointed DHEW assistant secretary
for health on July 1, succeeding Dr. Edwards.
Dr. Donald S. Fredrickson was sworn in as the 11th NIH director
on July 1.
The Adult Development and Aging Branch and the Gerontology
Research Center were separated from NICHD to become the core
of the National Institute on Aging, also on July 1. |
1976 |
On June 25, the National Heart and Lung Institute was renamed the
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Dr. D. Carleton Gajdusek, NINCDS, shared the Nobel Prize in
Physiology or Medicine with Dr. Baruch Blumberg, Institute
for Cancer Research. Dr. Gajdusek was honored for his research
on kuru and Dr. Blumberg for his work on the Australia antigen
at the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases
(1957-1964). |
1977 |
Construction
of the Ambulatory Care Research Facility was started in April.
On July 13, Dr. Julius B. Richmond took the oath of office
as DHEW assistant secretary for health and Surgeon General,
becoming the first person to hold both offices simultaneously. |
1978 |
On
November 15 the DHEW secretary announced the establishment of
the National Toxicology Program under the direction of NIEHS. |
1979 |
Dr. Hans J.
Muller Eberhard, Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, delivered
the first Kinyoun Lecture on April 24.
A protocol of cooperation in the exchange of information on
medicine and public health between the United States and China
was signed on June 22 in Beijing's historic Great Hall. The
DHEW secretary signed on behalf of the United States.
On July 18 NCI and the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda,
MD., agreed to cooperate in a cancer treatment research program. |
|
1980 |
1980 |
DHEW became the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) on
May 14.
A separate Department of Education was established.
On May 22, the Lister Hill Center for Biomedical Communications
was dedicated as part of NLM. |
1981 |
On May 14 Dr.
Edward N. Brandt, Jr., was sworn in as assistant secretary for
health.
The National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolic, and Digestive
Diseases was renamed the National Institute of Arthritis, Diabetes,
and Digestive and Kidney diseases on June 23.
On June 30 Dr. Fredrickson stepped down as NIH director. Dr.
Thomas E. Malone was appointed acting director.
The Ambulatory Care Research Facility was officially dedicated
on October 22. The research hospital was renamed the Warren
Grant Magnuson Clinical Center in honor of the former chairman
of the Senate Committee on Appropriations. Sen. Magnuson was
involved in support of biomedical research at NIH since 1937.
Dr. C. Everett Koop became PHS Surgeon General on November
16. |
1982 |
On
April 22 NIADDK was converted to bureau status, joining NCI,
NHLBI, and NLM. Dr. James B. Wyngaarden, chairman of the Duke
University department of medicine, was appointed NIH director
on April 29.
The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
marked its 20th anniversary on September 20.
NIGMS celebrated its 20th anniversary by establishing the
DeWitt Stetten, Jr., Lectureship. Dr. David S. Hogness, Stanford
University, gave the first lecture, October 13.
The National Institute on Aging opened its first on-campus
research unit in the NIH Clinical Center.
The NIEHS facility in Research Triangle Park, N.C., was dedicated
on November 15.
Lasker Foundation Awards were presented on November 17 to
three NIH scientists: Dr. Elizabeth Neufeld, NIADDK; Dr. Roscoe
O. Brady, NINDS; and Dr. Robert C. Gallo, NCI. |
1983 |
On January 18,
Building 1 was officially named the James A. Shannon Building
in honor of the former NIH director (1955-1968).
The first multidisciplinary pain clinic in the United States
devoted exclusively to research was opened in the Clinical
Center March 21 by NIDR.
NCI dedicated its R.A. Bloch International Cancer Information
Center on October 2. The building houses the institute's information
programs that serve health professionals and scientists.
In December, the Clinical Center celebrated its 30th anniversary
of operation. |
1984 |
NIH
purchased the Convent of the Sisters of the Visitation of Washington
along with about 11 acres of land for $4.5 million.
In May NCI scientists headed by Dr. Robert C. Gallo, Jr.,
uncovered strong evidence that variants of a human cancer virus
called HTLV-III are the primary cause of acquired immunodeficiency
syndrome (AIDS).
DCRT celebrated its 20th anniversary in May.
NIH and Howard Hughes Medical Institute launched a multimillion
dollar cooperative program in August to help increase the vigor
of American biomedical research and continue the flow of new
doctors into research areas.
The former Convent was dedicated September 19 as the Mary
Woodard Lasker Center for Health Research and Education. |
1985 |
NIH and the
Howard Hughes Medical Institute chose the first 25 HHMI-NIH research
scholars in June.
In July the NIA celebrated its 10th anniversary. |
1986 |
In
May the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and
Skin Diseases became a separate institute separated from its
parent NIADDK - now called the National Institute of Diabetes
and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Also created was the National
Center for Nursing Research.
NIH held the First Intramural Research Day on September 25
featuring symposia and poster sessions.
In June NIAID funded 14 centers to evaluate experimental drugs
in the treatment of AIDS.
NIH opened its year-long centennial celebration—A Century
of Science for Health—on October 16. |
1987 |
NIH scheduled
monthly events, hosted by individual components throughout the
year, to commemorate its 100th anniversary.
NIAID awarded contracts to five medical centers to establish
AIDS treatment evaluation units.
NIEHS celebrated its 20th anniversary, while NIGMS and DRR
marked their 25th.
Fifty-six promising science students—one from each state
and U.S. possession—were honored by NIH as centennial
scholars.
On July 23 President Reagan named a 13-member Commission on
the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Epidemic, which held its first
meeting following the announcement.
NIH became a smoke-free agency on September 1, banning smoking
in all buildings.
Hundreds of NIH alumni from the United States and abroad returned
to the campus on October 15-16 to help close out the year-long
celebration of the NIH centennial. |
1988 |
NIH
was honored by Spain with the presentation of the Grand Cross
of the Civil Order of Health.
The NICHD celebrated its 25th anniversary and NIAID and NIDR
marked their 40th.
The Children's Inn at NIH, a temporary home away from home
for NIH pediatric patients, was dedicated. A gift of $2.5 million
from Merck and Co., Inc. was donated toward the construction
of the building.
"Sky Horizon," a sculpture created by Louise Nevelson, was
provided to the NIH on loan by Edwin C. Whitehead, founder
of the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research.
Officials from NICHD, NINDS, and NIMH broke ground for a facility
they will share—Building 49, the Child Health and Neurosciences
Building.
November marked the establishment of the National Institute
on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. The parent institute
was renamed the National Institute of Neurological Disorders
and Stroke. |
1989 |
On May 10, Building
31 was named the Claude Denson Pepper Bldg. to honor NIH's "legislative
father."
The NIH Record marked its 40th year of publication in May.
On May 22, NIH conducted its first gene transfer in humans.
A cancer patient was infused with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes
(TIL) that had been altered by insertion of a gene. This allowed
scientists to track the special cancer-fighting cells in the
body to increase the understanding of TIL therapy. |
|
1990 |
1990 |
The
National Center for Human Genome Research was established in
January.
DRR and DRS merged in March and named the National Center
for Research Resources.
On June 21 the Children's Inn at NIH opened its doors to pediatric
patients and their families. The President and Mrs. Bush attended
the ceremonies.
The Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee approved the first
experiments involving transfer of human genes for therapeutic
purposes on July 31. The treatment was initiated on September
14 in a 4-year-old girl with adenosine deaminase deficiency.
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney
Diseases marked their 40th anniversaries.
It was announced in September that the gene that caused osteoarthritis
was isolated by scientists supported by the National Institute
of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases.
The Office of Research on Women's Health was established to
strengthen NIH's efforts to improve the prevention, diagnosis
and treatment of illness in women and to enhance research related
to diseases and conditions that affect women. |
1991 |
On January 29, NIH scientists treated the first cancer patients with human gene
therapy. Two patients received transfusions of special cancer-killing
cells removed from their own tumors and armed in the laboratory
with a gene capable of producing a potent antitumor toxin, tumor
necrosis factor.
Dr. Bernadine Healy was confirmed as NIH's 13th director on
March 21. She was the first woman appointed to this post.
In August the National Center for Human Genome Research announced
the start of a new, unified effort to develop a "framework" map
of the human genome—expected to take 2 to 3 years to
complete. |
1992 |
The National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute on Alcohol
Abuse and Alcoholism, and National Institute of Mental Health
were transferred from the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health
Administration to become part of the NIH.
Two components—NICHD and NIGMS—celebrated their
30th anniversaries on September 21 and October 17, respectively. |
1993 |
NIH Director
Bernadine Healy stepped down to return to the Cleveland Clinic
Foundation.
The Clinical Center celebrated its 40th anniversary.
Sixteen university medical programs were launch sites for
the 15-year, $625 million Women's Health Initiative. About
3,000 women will be enrolled at each center to investigate
women's most common causes of death and disability.
Dr. Harold Varmus was appointed NIH's 14th Director.
FIC noted its 25th anniversary.
The National Center for Nursing Research became the 16th institute. |
1994 |
Former
director, Dr. James Shannon, died.
NHLBI scientists for the first time successfully transferred
a normal cystic fibrosis gene into the cells lining a CF patient's
lungs.
Researchers at NIEHS isolated the BRCA1 gene—responsible
for about 5 percent of all breast cancers and 25 percent in
women under age 30.
Dr. Martin Rodbell, NIEHS, shared the Nobel Prize in physiology
or medicine for research on G proteins, key components of the
communication system that regulates cellular activity. |
1995 |
NLM unveiled the "Visible Man," a detailed atlas of human anatomy created
from thousands of images of a human body collected by radiographic
and photographic techniques.
NIAAA celebrated its 25th anniversary. |
1996 |
The
first multicenter trial of bone marrow transplantation in children
with sickle cell disease demonstrated that the procedure can
provide a cure for young patients that have a matched sibling,
according to NHLBI-supported scientists.
DRG celebrated its 50th anniversary and NIEHS noted its 30th. |
1997 |
Researchers
with NHGRI completed a map of chromosome 7, an important milestone
within the Human Genome Project.
DRG was renamed the Center for Scientific Review and DCRT
became the Center for Information Technology.
Vice President Al Gore performed an "inaugural search," opening
up free access on the world wide web to NLM's MEDLINE.
Results from the NIH-supported Dietary and Systolic Hypertension
trial indicated that blood pressure can be swiftly and significantly
lowered through a diet low in fat and high in vegetables, fruits,
and low-fat dairy foods.
A team led by NHGRI scientists identified a defective gene
that causes some inherited cases of Parkinson's disease.
Results from an NIH trial showed that a low-dose diuretic
cuts by half the chance that an older person with high systolic
blood pressure will develop heart failure. In those who had
already had a heart attack, their chance of developing heart
failure dropped by 80 percent.
A team led by NIH-funded scientists determined the complete
genome sequence of the E. coli bacterium, a laboratory workhorse.
This accomplishment gives researchers a powerful new tool for
understanding fundamental questions of biological evolution
and function.
On November 4, Vice President Al Gore and Senator Mark O.
Hatfield attended the groundbreaking ceremonies for the new
Clinical Center, which will be called the Mark O. Hatfield
Clinical Research Center. |
1998 |
Building
20, NIH's apartment building, was carefully demolished to make
way for the new Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center.
NICHD's new zebrafish facility opened. Zebrafish have become
the mainstay of developmental biologists for studying the development
of the vascular system and central nervous system, as well
as the functional genomics of the zebrafish.
A large prevention trial conducted by NCI showed that long-term
use of a moderate-dose vitamin E supplement substantially reduced
prostate cancer incidence and deaths in male smokers.
In a cooperative endeavor (Neurolab) between NASA, NIH and
others, astronauts on Space Shuttle Columbia conducted research
on how the neurological system responds to the challenges of
space flight.
Results from a NCI-sponsored clinical trial showed that women
at high risk of developing breast cancer who took the drug
tamoxifen had 49 percent fewer cases of breast cancer than
those who didn't. Tamoxifen was hailed as the first drug to
prevent breast cancer in women at high risk for the disease.
The new NIH Intramural Sequencing Center opened in Gaithersburg.
NISC is a 14-institute consortium that is dedicated to large-scale
sequencing of human and animal DNA.
NIDR celebrated its 50th anniversary, with a name change to
the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.
Building 16, known as the Stone House, was renamed the "Lawton
Chiles International House"; it will be the locus for international
activities supported by FIC and other NIH and DHHS components.
Between 1992 and 1996, the rate of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
(SIDS) dropped by 38 percent, much of that likely being due
to a 66 percent decrease during the same period in the number
of U.S. infants being placed to sleep on their stomachs. A
national Back to Sleep Campaign—encouraging parents to
put their infants to sleep on their backs - was launched in
1994 by NICHD, in partnership with HHS and other organizations.
The complete sequence of two bacteria that are among the major
causes of sexually transmitted diseases worldwide—Treponema
pallidum, responsible for syphilis, and Chlamydia trachomatis,
responsible for chlamydial infections—were obtained by
two separate teams of scientists supported by NIAID and others.
NIDCD celebrated its 10th anniversary.
Senator John Glenn and six other astronauts spent nine days
in space aboard NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery conducting about
83 scientific projects, the most research-intensive space journey
yet. Glenn, NASA and others worked with NIA to develop the
projects.
NIAID celebrated its 50th anniversary.
NHLBI's Framingham Heart Study celebrated its 50th anniversary.
An international team funded by NHGRI and others obtained
the complete sequence of the 97-million-base genome of the
roundworm, Caenorhabditis elegans. This marks the first time
that scientists have spelled out the instructions for a complete
animal which, like humans, has a nervous system, digests food,
reproduces, and gets old, making it a very important organism
in which to carry out studies that parallel human biology. |
1999 |
The new South Entry to the Clinical Center opened, thus facilitating construction
on the Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center on the north
face of Building 10.
A team of investigators led by an NIAID grantee discovered
that a subspecies of chimpanzees native to west Africa are
the origin of HIV-1, the virus responsible for the global AIDS
pandemic.
Underlying vitamin D deficiency in postmenopausal women is
associated with increased risk of hip fracture, according to
a study supported by NIA and NCRR.
NIDA, NIMH, and NINDS moved into the new Neuroscience Center
office building on Executive Boulevard, which some have dubbed "NIH
North".
A meta-analysis study, led by an NICHD researcher, found that
pregnant women infected with HIV could reduce the risk of transmitting
the virus to their infants by about 50 percent if they deliver
by cesarean section before they go into labor and before their
membranes rupture.
NIH Director Dr. Harold Varmus convened the first meeting
of the Director's Council of Public Representatives (COPR).
The Council will provide advice and recommendations to, and
consult with, the NIH Director regarding matters related to
medical research, NIH's policies and programs, and public participation
in NIH's activities. COPR was chartered in November 1998.
On June 9, President Bill Clinton unveiled the cornerstone
for the new Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center,
which initially will focus on accelerating the search for a
vaccine against AIDS. Earlier, Dr. Varmus named Dr. Gary Nabel
as the director of the new VRC, which currently exists as a "center
without walls". The VRC is funded by NIAID and NCI and spear-
headed by them and NIH's Office of AIDS Research.
NLM's MEDLINE added the 10 millionth journal citation to its
database.
A joint Uganda—U.S. study, funded by NIAID, demonstrated
a highly effective, affordable and practical strategy for preventing
transmission of HIV from an infected mother to her newborn.
A single-oral dose of the antiretroviral drug nevirapine given
to the HIV-infected mother while in labor and another to her
baby within three days of birth reduced the transmission rate
by half compared with a similar short course of AZT.
Women with preeclampsia, a potentially fatal complication
of pregnancy, were found to have an imbalance of two key chemical
compounds that control blood pressure, prostacyclin and thromboxane,
months before their symptoms appeared, according to NICHD scientists.
NIDA celebrated its 25th anniversary.
NIH announced its plan to establish a repository called PubMed
Central for free electronic distribution of primary research
reports in the life sciences. The new site would be integrated
with NLM's widely used bibliographic site PubMed and is intended
to be one of several repositories in an international system
first proposed by NIH director Dr. Harold Varmus. PubMed Central
would begin receiving, storing and distributing content—including
peer—reviewed articles, preprints, and other screened
reports from existing journals, new journals, and reputable
scientific organizations—in January 2000.
Children born to mothers with untreated hypothyroidism during
pregnancy were found to score lower on IQ tests than children
of healthy mothers suggesting that early detection and treatment
of hypothyroidism in pregnant women may be a critical part
of prenatal care, according to a study funded by NICHD and
others.
In October 1999, NIH announced a major research program involving
10 laboratories, called the Mouse Genome Sequencing Network,
to map and sequence the DNA in the mouse genome.
A research effort led by NIAID scientists produced the first
high-resolution genetic map of Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest
malaria parasite, which is responsible for the death of more
than two million people annually.
Scientists supported by NHGRI along with groups in England
and Japan completed the first sequence of a human chromosome,
chromosome 22. Genes on chromosome 22 have been implicated
in immune system function, congenital heart disease, and several
cancers including leukemia.
The National Toxicology Program, headquartered at NIEHS, announced
that Federal regulatory agencies—FDA, OSHA, EPA and CPSC—would
accept, for the first time, an alternative way to test chemicals
for allergic contact dermatitis that could reduce by thousands
the number of guinea pigs needed for such tests.
After leading NIH for 6 years, Dr. Harold Varmus left to become
the President and CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
in New York City. |
|
2000 |
2000 |
On January 1, Dr. Ruth Kirschstein, deputy director of NIH, became
the acting director.
Scientists funded by NIDCR and NIAMS, along with an NCI scientist
discovered that leptin, the product of the obesity gene, acts
as a bone inhibitor by telling the brain to slow down the rate
of bone formation, showing for the first time that the brain
has a central role in controlling bone formation and density.
A team including NCI scientists and grantees used microarray
technology to show that the most common form of non-Hodgkin's
lymphoma (NHL), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, is actually
two distinct diseases, thus explaining why 40 percent of patients
with this NHL can be cured through chemotherapy while others
succumb to the disease. This is the first demonstration of
a technology that promises to revolutionize cancer diagnosis
as well as many other areas of research.
The NIEHS headquarters and laboratory Building 101 in Research
Triangle Park, N.C., was renamed the Rall Building in honor
of former NIEHS director, Dr. David Platt Rall.
NLM received Vice President Al Gore's Hammer Award for a series
of improvements in its information services, including making
its popular MEDLINE database of journal article references
and abstracts free and easier for the public to use.
NIH launched the first phase of a consumer-friendly database,
ClinicalTrials. gov, with information on more than 4,000 Federal
and private medical studies involving patients and others at
more than 47,000 locations nationwide. The new database may
be reached at http://clinicaltrials.gov/.
CC and NIAID scientists demonstrated that the widely used
herbal product St. John's wort could significantly compromise
the effectiveness of a protease inhibitor often used to treat
those infected with HIV.
An NIAID study showed that a nasal spray flu vaccine not only
protected young children against the three strains of influenza
for which the vaccine was designed to provide protection but
also a flu strain not covered by the vaccine. It also protected
the children against flu-related middle-ear infections.
Scientists supported by NHGRI and DOE along with the private
company Celera completely sequenced the genome of the fruitfly
Drosophila melanogaster, which is used to study a host of biological
questions related to aging, development, learning, memory and
more.
NIH's Office of Research on Minority Health and the Office
of Research on Women's Health celebrated their tenth anniversaries.
An NHLBI-supported clinical trial showed that lowering the
amount of salt for those who ate a "usual" American diet as
well as those following the DASH diet—rich in vegetables,
fruits and low-fat dairy foods and low in saturated fat, total
fat and cholesterol—lowered blood pressure correspondingly
for both those with and without hypertension, including African
Americans.
NIGMS and the Indian Health Service announced plans to collaborate
on a new program, Native American Research Centers for Health
(NARCH), designed to promote, develop and support centers that
will link the Native American community with organizations
that conduct health research.
The international Human Genome Project public consortium—funded
by NIH, DOE, and others—assembled a working draft of
the sequence of the human genome. The information from this
project has been completely, immediately, and freely released
to the world with no restrictions on its use.
Researchers supported by NIGMS demonstrated that a simple
and inexpensive change in basic surgical procedures—giving
patients more oxygen during and immediately after surgery—can
cut the rate of wound infections in half, thus saving millions
of dollars in hospital costs by helping to prevent post-surgical
wound infection, nausea and vomiting.
A team of scientists funded by NIAID determined the complete
sequence of the genome of the bacterium—Vibrio cholerae—that
causes cholera. |
2001 |
Grantees of
NIAID and NHGRI and others sequenced the entire genome of a deadly
strain of E. coli, a bacterium that is emerging as a major public
health threat through contaminated ground beef, milk, fruits
and vegetables. By comparing the sequence of this strain with
that of harmless strains of E. coli, scientists may learn why
only some forms cause disease and then find ways to prevent harmful
strains from causing disease.
A team of NHGRI and NCI scientists and others developed a
new genetic test that can distinguish between two types of
hereditary breast cancer—caused by BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations—and
sporadic breast cancer. The new approach uses microarray (gene
chip) technology to analyze the activity of more than 5300
genes at once. This advance should ultimately help physicians
diagnose the cause of a woman's breast cancer and guide decisions
about the most effective treatments.
A team composed of scientists from NHGRI and NINDS, grantees
of NHLBI and NIA, and others demonstrated that adult stem cells
isolated from mouse bone marrow could become functioning heart
muscle cells when injected into a damaged mouse heart. The
new cells at least partially restored the heart's ability to
pump blood.
NIAID grantees completed sequencing the genome of Streptococcus
pyogenes, a bacterium that causes a wide variety of human diseases
including strep throat, scarlet fever, pneumonia, toxic shock
syndrome, blood "poisoning," acute rheumatic fever, rheumatic
heart disease, and the flesh-eating disease known as necrotizing
fasciitis. This information should aid scientists in developing
new ways to prevent and treat these diseases.
Scientists from NICHD developed and, along with an NIDDK scientist
and others, tested the first vaccine capable of protecting
children ages 2 to 5 against typhoid fever. Seemingly the most
effective typhoid vaccine ever developed, it is also virtually
free of side effects. About 16 million people worldwide develop
typhoid each year, and 600,000 die from it, mainly in developing
countries without adequate sewage and sanitation.
Under a CRADA with the drug company Novartis, NCI scientists
found that a new drug known as Gleevec was effective against
chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in patients for whom standard
treatments had failed. (CML is a disease in which too many
white blood cells are made in the bone marrow, the spongy tissue
inside the large bones in the body.) NCI funded the lion's
share of the basic research that led to the discovery and development
by Novartis of Gleevec, the first anti-cancer drug specifically
developed to target the molecular problem that causes a particular
type of cancer.
NHGRI scientists and others developed a method that combined
microarray (gene chip) technology with a form of artificial
intelligence. This enabled them to tell the difference between
four childhood cancers that often look alike—neuroblastoma,
Ewing's sarcoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma (Burkitt's lymphoma)
and rhabdomyosarcoma. Because the treatments for these tumors
are quite different, an accurate diagnosis can be critical
for a child's survival. This study should help lead to the
discovery of genes that are altered in these tumors and ultimately
to the development of effective new treatments.
Grantees of NHLBI and NIA found that human heart muscle cells
can regenerate after a heart attack. This finding opens up
the possibility of repairing heart muscle damage after a heart
attack.
Animal studies by NIDA researchers found that craving for
cocaine seems to increase, rather than decrease, in the days
and months after drug use has stopped. This phenomenon helps
explain why addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease.
People at high risk for type 2 diabetes can sharply lower
their chances of getting the disease by losing weight (5 percent
to 7 percent of their body weight) and by getting 30 minutes
of walking or other moderate exercise every day, according
to the findings of a clinical trial sponsored by NIDDK.
On August 9, President Bush announced that Federal funds could
be used to support research using existing lines of human embryonic
stem cells that meet certain criteria. NIH then developed a
registry of the known human embryonic stem cell lines so researchers
could identify in their applications for funding which sources
of stem cells they plan to use.
An NEI-sponsored clinical trial showed that people at high
risk of developing advanced stages of age-related macular degeneration
(AMD) significantly lowered that risk by taking a high-dose
combination of zinc and the antioxidants vitamin C, vitamin
E and beta-carotene. These nutrients are the first effective
treatment to slow the progression of AMD, a leading cause of
visual impairment and blindness in Americans 65 years of age
and older. |
2002 |
NCRR-supported
scientists were part of a team that cloned the world's first "knockout" pigs—ones
with a particular gene removed. The gene they removed was for
a molecule on the surface of the pig cells that the human immune
system recognizes and attacks, leading to the failure of transplanted
tissues or organs.
A team of NICHD and other scientists developed the first vaccine
against Staphylococcus aureus, a major cause of infection and
death among hospital patients.
People with elevated levels of homocysteine in the blood had
nearly double the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD), according
to a team of scientists supported by NIA and NINDS. The findings,
in a group of participants in NHLBI's long-running Framingham
Study, are the first to tie homocysteine levels measured several
years before with a later diagnosis of AD and the other dementias,
providing some of the most powerful evidence yet of an association
between high plasma homocysteine and later significant memory
loss.
NIAID released its Counter-Bioterrorism Research Agenda, a
document describing an accelerated research plan for the most
threatening agents of bioterrorism. The agenda outlines the
research NIAID will undertake to help protect civilian populations
from diseases such as smallpox, anthrax and plague should those
who wish to do harm unleash them intentionally.
Results of an NIAID study indicate that the existing U.S.
supply of smallpox vaccine—15.4 million doses—could
successfully be diluted up to five times and retain its potency,
effectively expanding the number of individuals it could protect
from the contagious disease. The success of this study puts
us one step closer to the goal of having enough vaccine for
every American if needed to respond to a potential outbreak.
Dr. Elias Zerhouni became the 15th director of the National
Institutes of Health.
The international Mouse Genome Sequencing Consortium, jointly
funded by NHGRI and several NIH institutes along with the Wellcome
Trust in the United Kingdom, announced that it had assembled
and deposited into public databases an advanced draft sequence
of the mouse genome, the genetic blueprint for the most important
animal model in biomedical research. The sequence is freely
available on the Internet.
Dr. Roderic I. Pettigrew was named the first director of NIH's
new National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.
Researchers used whole-genome sequencing technology and computational
methods to genetically compare two important isolates of the
anthrax bacterium: the well-known Ames strain and an isolate
from the 2001 Florida anthrax attacks. These techniques will
enable researchers to more accurately trace the origin of individual
bacterial strains, determine if those strains have been genetically
modified, and assess differences in their ability to cause
disease or resist antibiotics. NIAID teamed with the Office
of Naval Research, the National Science Foundation, and other
agencies to fund the research.
NHLBI stopped early a major clinical trial of the risks and
benefits of combined estrogen and progestin in healthy menopausal
women due to an increased risk of invasive breast cancer. The
large trial, a component of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI),
also found increases in coronary heart disease, stroke, and
pulmonary embolism in study participants on estrogen plus progestin
compared to women taking placebo pills. There were some benefits
of estrogen plus progestin, including fewer cases of hip fractures
and colon cancer, but on balance the harm was greater than
the benefit.
NIH licensed a new technology that allows physicians and researchers
to make detailed, three-dimensional maps of nerve pathways
in the brain, heart muscle fibers, and other soft tissues.
The new imaging technology, called Diffusion Tensor Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (DT-MRI), was invented by researchers now
at NICHD.
A new approach to cancer treatment that replaces a patient's
immune system with cancer-fighting cells can lead to tumor
shrinkage. NCI researchers demonstrated that immune cells,
activated in the laboratory against patients' tumors and then
administered to those patients, could attack cancer cells in
the body. The experimental technique, known as adoptive transfer,
has shown promising results in patients with metastatic melanoma
who have not responded to standard treatment.
NIAID-supported researchers proved conclusively that the malaria-causing
parasite Plasmodium falciparum became resistant to the anti-malarial
drug chloroquine through mutations in a single parasite gene.
This finding has potentially important implications for malaria
treatment and control.
An international research consortium of NHGRI, other NIH components,
and other countries launched a public-private effort to create
the next generation map of the human genome. Called the International
HapMap Project, this new venture is aimed at speeding the discovery
of genes related to common illnesses such as asthma, cancer,
diabetes and heart disease. |
2003 |
The International
Human Genome Sequencing Consortium, led in the United States
by NHGRI and the Department of Energy, completed the Human Genome
Project more than two years ahead of schedule and for a cost
substantially less than the original estimates. The international
effort to sequence the three billion DNA letters is considered
by many to be one of the most ambitious scientific undertakings
of all time. The first draft of the human sequence was completed
in June 2000. Researchers have now produced a "finished" sequence,
which covers about 99 percent of the human genome's gene-containing
regions, and has been sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99 percent.
All of the sequence data have been deposited into public databases
and made freely available to scientists around the world, with
no restrictions on their use or redistribution.
The complete genetic blueprint of Bacillus anthracis—the
microbe that gained notoriety during the 2001 anthrax mail
attacks—has been completed by NIAID-funded researchers.
This bacterium, which can cause potentially fatal inhalational
anthrax, differs very little from a common soil bacterium related
to it. Scientists hope that the genetic differences between
these two may reveal valuable clues to its vulnerabilities.
NHLBI published new clinical practice guidelines for the prevention,
detection, and treatment of high blood pressure—a major
risk factor for heart disease and the chief risk factor for
stroke and heart failure. The guidelines define a new blood
pressure category called "prehypertension" that includes about
22 percent of American adults, or about 45 million people.
Americans' lifetime risk of developing hypertension is greater
than previously thought, according to the new guidelines. Medications
and lifestyle changes are both crucial parts of treatment.
Researchers supported by NIMH found a gene called 5-HTT that
influences whether people become depressed when faced with
major life stresses such as relationship problems, financial
difficulties and illness. The gene by itself does not cause
depression, but it does affect how likely people are to get
depressed when faced with major life stresses. Another study
led by NIAAA researchers found that this same gene affects
drinking habits in college students. These studies are major
contributions toward understanding how a person's response
to their environment is influenced by their genetic makeup.
A team led by NIDCR and NICHD researchers discovered that "baby" teeth,
the temporary teeth that children begin losing around their
sixth birthday, contain a rich supply of stem cells in their
dental pulp. The cells, named SHED, remain alive inside the
tooth for a short time after it falls out of a child's mouth.
This easily accessible source of stem cells could be readily
harvested for research. Scientists hope they can learn to manipulate
them to repair damaged teeth, induce the regeneration of bone,
and treat neural injury or disease.
Researchers supported by NICHD, NIGMS, NHLBI and NIDCR discovered
how an embryo attaches to the wall of the uterus in what may
be one of the earliest steps needed to establish a successful
pregnancy. After an egg is fertilized, a specialized protein
called L-selectin on the embryo surface binds to carbohydrates
on the uterine wall. Scientists think that this interaction
slows the embryo down to a complete stop so it can then attach
to the wall of the uterus. The finding may lead to insights
into infertility and early pregnancy loss.
An international research team funded by NINR found that filters
made from old cotton saris cut the number of cholera cases
in rural Bangladesh villages almost in half. Other inexpensive
cloth should work just as well in other parts of the world
where cholera is endemic. Cholera is a waterborne disease that
causes severe diarrhea and vomiting, killing thousands of people
around the world every year. This simple preventive measure
has the potential to make a significant impact on a global
health problem.
NIH director Dr. Elias Zerhouni names five new institute directors:
Dr. Ting-Kai Li at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse
and Alcoholism; Dr. Thomas Insel at the National Institute
of Mental Health; Dr. Nora Volkow at the National Institute
on Drug Abuse, Dr. Jeremy Berg at the National Institute of
General Medical Sciences; Dr. Story Landis at the National
Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
President George W. Bush visits NIH on Feb. 3 to unveil Project
BioShield, a $6 billion, 10-year effort to protect the public
from various weapons of bioterrorism.
The FY 2003 appropriation for NIH completes a 5-year doubling
of the NIH budget that began in 1998.
Construction begins on a new Perimeter Security System including
a fence around the Bethesda campus.
Construction begins on the Bldg. 33 Complex, to include a
parking garage and 150,000 gross square foot laboratory for
work on infectious agents that might be used in bioterrorism.
Dr. Zerhouni announces the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research,
a comprehensive plan whose purpose is to identify the major
scientific opportunities and gaps in medical research that
no single institute or center at NIH could tackle alone. |
2004 |
NIH
opens the Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center, a 240-bed
successor to the NIH Clinical Center, which opened in 1953. It
is the world's largest facility dedicated to clinical research.
The 870,000-square-foot addition welcomed occupants of its research
wings in fall 2004, and was to admit its first patients in early
January 2005.
The NIH Roadmap for Medical Research, a coordinated effort
to speed the results of bench research to the patient bedside,
marks its first anniversary, which includes the award of 9
grants to the inaugural class of winners of the NIH Director's
Pioneer Awards.
NIH director Dr. Elias Zerhouni announces an NIH proposal
to enhance public access to taxpayer-supported research by
creating an online, searchable archive of all NIH-funded publications
within 6 months of their appearance in journals.
NIH proposes enhancements to its rules governing potential
conflicts of interest on the part of employees, thereby resolving
public and congressional concerns about the outside activities
of NIH staff.
NIH launches the Neuroscience Blueprint, a framework to enhance
cooperative activities among 14 NIH Institutes and Centers
that support research on the nervous system. The ultimate goal
of the Blueprint is to accelerate neuroscience research to
reduce the burden of nervous system disorders and maintain
a healthy nervous system throughout life.
The Council of Public Representatives to the NIH director
(COPR) holds a Public Trust Workshop aimed at increasing public
participation in clinical research. COPR advocates building
trust through community partnerships, building relationships
with patients, building partnerships with community providers
and building trust in both scientists and NIH scientific research.
An international clinical trial concluded that women should
consider taking letrozole after 5 years of tamoxifen treatment
to continue to reduce the risk of recurrence of breast cancer.
This advance in breast cancer treatment will improve the outlook
for many thousands of women. NCI supported the U.S. portion
of the study, which offered one more example of the ability
to interrupt the progression of a cancer using a drug that
blocks a crucial metabolic pathway in the tumor cell.
As of July 2003, about 10 million American women were taking
some form of hormone therapy, including approximately 6.7 million
taking estrogen alone and 3.3 million taking estrogen plus
progestin. A large, multi-center prevention study of estrogen-alone
hormone therapy in healthy, postmenopausal women without a
uterus, was stopped in February 2004 after researchers found
that estrogen-alone had no effect on coronary heart disease
risk, but increased the risk of stroke. The study, part of
the NHLBI-sponsored Women's Health Initiative (WHI), also found
that estrogen-alone therapy significantly increased the risk
of deep vein thrombosis, had no significant effect on the risk
of breast or colorectal cancer, and reduced the risk of hip
and other fractures. In addition, among older women in the
study, estrogen-alone therapy did not prevent cognitive decline.
The International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium, led
in the United States by the National Human Genome Research
Institute and the Department of Energy, published its scientific
description of the finished human genome sequence, reducing
the estimated number of human protein-coding genes from 35,000
to only 20,000-25,000, a surprisingly low number for our species.
Adding to a developing body of research examining a possible
link between diabetes and cognitive decline, a long-term study
supported by NIA found that diabetes mellitus was linked to
a 65 percent increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease
(AD). These results are among the first to examine how certain
cognitive systems, including memory for words and events, the
speed of processing information, and the ability to recognize
spatial patterns, decline in people with diabetes, while others
do not. Further research, some currently under way, will tell
researchers whether therapies for diabetes may in fact play
a role in lowering risk of AD or cognitive decline.
From language to literature, from music to mathematics, a
single protein, known as mBDNF, appears central to the formation
of the long-term memories needed to learn these and all other
disciplines. Most of what we accomplish as human beings depends
on what we learn. This discovery, led by scientists at NICHD,
brings the possibility of studying this protein system in people
with learning and memory disorders and perhaps designing new
medications that might help to compensate for these problems. |
2005 |
People with
type 1 diabetes can lower their risk of heart disease and stroke
by about 50% by tightly controlling their blood glucose levels,
according to a study supported by NIDDK and NCRR. The findings
were based on a follow-up study of patients who took part more
than a decade ago in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial,
a major clinical study funded by NIDDK and other NIH components
along with Genentech, Inc. Continuing studies will reveal whether
the same applies to those with type 2 diabetes, the more prevalent
form of the disease.
NCI and NHGRI launched a comprehensive effort called The Cancer
Genome Atlas (TCGA) to accelerate an understanding of the molecular
basis of cancer using genome analysis technologies. A pilot
project involves a few types of cancer chosen for their value
in helping to determine the feasibility of a possible larger-scale
project. The project will develop and test the complex science
and technology framework needed to systematically identify
and characterize genomic changes associated with cancer.
An international team supported by NHGRI published the genome
sequence of the dog. Because of selective breeding over the
past few centuries, modern dog breeds are a model of genetic
diversity, from 6-pound Chihuahuas to 120-pound Great Danes,
from high-energy Jack Russell Terriers to mild-mannered basset
hounds, and from the herding instincts of Shetland sheepdogs
to pointers pointing. However, selective breeding has also
caused many dog breeds to be predisposed to genetic disorders
including heart disease, cancer and blindness. In combination
with the human genome, the dog genome sequence will help researchers
identify genetic contributors to several diseases.
Prince Charles and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, visited
NIH on November 3 for a briefing on osteoporosis. The Duchess
of Cornwall's interest in osteoporosis—her mother and
grandmother died as a result of the disease—spurred the
visit. Sponsored by NIAMS, the meeting explored opportunities
to spread the messages of the Bone Health and Osteoporosis:
A Surgeon General's Report.
President George W. Bush made his fourth visit to NIH in less
than 3 years on November 1 to announce the government's pandemic
influenza preparations and response. His previous visit, on
January 26, was for a 40-minute town hall-style meeting to
emcee a discussion with five citizens on the topic "Strengthening
Health Care."
NIH launched a new state-of-the-art way for applicants to
submit their grant applications electronically. Beginning with
the receipt date of Dec. 1, 2005, NIH is requiring all its
SBIR/STTR grant applicants to electronically submit their competing
grants. NIH plans to transition all of its competing grant
programs from paper to electronic by May 2007.
The International HapMap Consortium, a public-private effort
to chart patterns of genetic variation in the world's population,
published the human haplotype map, or HapMap. With more than
1 million markers of genetic variation, the HapMap is a comprehensive
catalog of human genetic variation showing "neighborhoods" of
correlated genetic variation, or haplotypes, across the entire
human genome. Researchers will be able to identify genetic
contributions to common diseases far more efficiently using
HapMap data than with traditional approaches.
NIH launched a major new program, the Institutional Clinical
and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs) program, to encourage
the development of clinical and translational science, so that
new treatments can be developed more efficiently and delivered
more quickly to patients.
An HIV/AIDS vaccine developed by scientists at NIAID's Dale
and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center moved into its second
phase of clinical testing in October. This vaccine contains
synthetic genes representing HIV subtypes found in Europe,
North America, Africa and Asia that account about 85% of HIV
infections worldwide.
Rates for new cases of kidney failure stabilized after 20
years of annual increases from 5 to 10%, according to research
from NIDDK. Credit likely goes to clinical strategies proven
in the 1990s to significantly delay or prevent kidney failure:
angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-inhibitors) and
angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), which lower protein in
the urine and are thought to directly prevent injury to the
kidneys' blood vessels; and careful control of diabetes and
blood pressure. The launch of private and government programs
to improve care and increase awareness, including NIDDK's National
Kidney Disease Education Program (NKDEP), likely also had an
impact.
The nation's leading cancer organizations reported in October
that Americans' risk of dying from cancer continues to decline
and that the rate of new cancers is holding steady. Observed
cancer death rates from all cancers combined dropped 1.1% per
year from 1993 to 2002. NCI announced the results in the "Annual
Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2002" in
collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
the American Cancer Society, and the North American Association
of Central Cancer Registries.
NIH celebrated the second anniversary of progress guided by
the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research in September. In fiscal
year 2005, NIH funded $235 million in new and continuing NIH
Roadmap projects. Key NIH Roadmap accomplishments include:
- The establishment of advanced centers in nanomedicine.
- The Molecular Libraries Screening Center Network began
work in June 2005.
- Research Teams of the Future awards were granted through
fiscal year 2006 to fund 21 Exploratory Centers for Interdisciplinary
Research throughout the country.
- The launch of the Re-engineering the Clinical Research
Enterprise.
Within a day of Katrina's passage, NIH director Dr. Elias
Zerhouni convened the first in a series of emergency meetings
at which clinical directors, nursing and administrative leaders
rapidly hammered out ways NIH could help. In partnership with
the American Association of Medical Colleges, NIH created and
activated a telemedicine brain trust for specialty medical
consultations over a telephone hotline. An advance team and
medical team numbering about 50 people deployed temporarily
to a field hospital in Mississippi. In addition, the Clinical
Center made 100 beds of "surge capacity" available
for patients who might need to be transferred from the affected
areas, such as young cancer patients who would need specialized
services.
The Chimpanzee Sequencing and Analysis Consortium, which is
supported in part by NHGRI, described its landmark analysis
comparing the genome of the chimp (Pan troglodytes) with that
of humans (Homo sapiens). The chimp sequence draft represents
the first non-human primate genome. Our closest living relatives
share 96% of our DNA sequence.
Dr. Zerhouni announced the latest and final regulations to
prevent conflicts of interest at NIH on August 25. In the works
since interim final regulations were published in February
of 2004, the new revised standards became effective on August
31, when they appeared in the Federal Register.
Computer models developed by the NIGMS-funded Models of Infectious
Disease Agent Study (MIDAS) research network found that a carefully
chosen combination of public health measures, if implemented
early, could stop the spread of an avian flu outbreak at its
source. The researchers found that antiviral treatment is a
critical component of a multi-pronged approach.
An international group of researchers working in more than
20 laboratories around the globe and funded in part by NIAID
sequenced the genomes of three parasites that cause deadly
insect-borne diseases: African sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis
and Chagas disease. Knowing the full genetic make-up of the
three parasites might lead to better ways to treat or prevent
the diseases they cause.
The Women's Health Study, a long-term clinical trial funded
by NHLBI and NCI, found that vitamin E supplements don't protect
healthy women against heart attacks and stroke. They also had
no effect on the most common cancers in women or on total cancers.
The Protein Structure Initiative (PSI) completed its first
5-year phase and moved into its second. The PSI aims to figure
out the three-dimensional shapes of proteins, with the long-term
goal of being able to predict most protein structures from
their DNA sequences. More than 1,100 protein structures were
solved in the PSI's first phase, which was dedicated to figuring
out how to process proteins and determine their three-dimensional
structures more efficiently. Phase 2 is the production phase,
in which thousands more protein structures will be solved and
put into the Protein Data Bank (http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/),
a public repository with powerful tools for processing protein
structure information.
NHGRI announced 13 more organisms that the Large-Scale Sequencing
Research Network will target, including 9 mammals, as part
of its ongoing effort to produce genomic data that will expand
biological knowledge and improve human health.
The Edmond J. Safra Family Lodge opened its doors to guests
on Wednesday, June 1. This new addition to the NIH campus offers
a temporary residence for families and loved ones of adult
patients who are receiving care at the NIH Clinical Center.
Using New Bioshield Authorities, NIAID awarded 10 grants and
2 contracts totaling approximately $27 million to fund development
of new therapeutics and vaccines against some of the most deadly
agents of bioterrorism including anthrax, botulinum toxin,
Ebola virus, pneumonic plague, smallpox and tularemia. Project
Bioshield, which was signed into law on July 21, gives federal
agencies new tools to accelerate research on medical countermeasures
to safeguard Americans against chemical, biological, radiological
or nuclear attack.
Researchers funded by NIH were asked to begin voluntarily
submitting their manuscripts on May 2, 2005 to the National
Library of Medicine's PubMed Central upon acceptance for publication. "Public
access" to peer-reviewed, NIH-funded research publications
will enable health care providers, educators and scientists
to more easily exchange and search for research results. The
public will also have greater access to published material
about the medical research their tax dollars support.
The Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent
Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT), a long-term, multi-center trial
of antihypertensive therapies funded by NHLBI, found that diuretics
work better than newer therapies in treating high blood pressure
and reducing the risk of heart disease in both black and non-black
patients. The large study, with 33,357 participants, concluded
that diuretics should be the first therapy for most patients
with high blood pressure.
Three independent research teams supported by NEI found a
gene, called complement factor H (CFH), that affects a person's
risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD),
the leading cause of blindness in people over age 60. One team,
which included NIH's own researchers, found that people with
this variant of the CFH gene are more than seven times more
likely to develop the disease.
The Heart Truth, a national awareness campaign about women's
heart disease sponsored by NHLBI, hosted the Red Dress Collection
2005 Fashion Show at Olympus Fashion Week in New York City
on February 4, National Wear Red Day. First Lady Laura Bush,
the national ambassador for NHLBI's campaign, joined Sarah
Ferguson, the Duchess of York, and NHLBI director Dr. Elizabeth
Nabel at a press event at the Time Life building in New York
to kick off the fashion show. Made possible by Johnson & Johnson,
Celestial Seasonings and Swarovski, the show was hosted by
actress Vanessa Williams and included 26 of America's most
influential designers along with a star-studded cast of celebrity
models. The fashion show brought to life the Red Dress, the
national symbol for women and heart disease awareness. In a
survey was conducted by Harris Interactive in January, 60%
of all the women surveyed agree that the Red Dress makes them
want to learn more about heart disease, 25% recalled the Red
Dress as the national symbol for women and heart disease and
45% agreed that it would prompt them to talk to their doctor
and/or get a check-up. |
2006 |
NCI-funded research spanning nearly 2 decades helped lead
to FDA approval for a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, a
disease that claims the lives of nearly 4,000 women each year
in the United States. It is the first cancer vaccine approved
by the FDA.
NHLBI's nearly half-century commitment to exploring innovative
mechanical approaches for treating damaged hearts led to the
development of the first totally implanted artificial heart,
approved by FDA in September 2006.
The NIH Office of Technology Transfer announced that products
and processes invented by NIH scientists generated close to
$100 million in royalties in 2005, nearly double $56 million-plus
earned by NIH inventions the previous year. The top royalty
earner is the invention of a Taxol-coated stent, which helps
more than half a million Americans each year avoid bypass surgery.
On May 2, NIH dedicated a new research facility for studying
globally important infectious diseases. NIAID's new C.W. Bill
Young Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases
will house studies of naturally occurring infectious diseases,
infectious agents that might be used for bioterrorism and potential
vaccines.
A multicenter research team, funded in part by NHGRI, completed
the draft genome sequence of the rhesus macaque monkey and
deposited the information into free public databases. The macaque
is the second non-human primate, after the chimpanzee, to have
its genome sequenced. Overall, the macaque shares about 92-95%
of its genome sequence with humans. The genome sequence will
facilitate research in neuroscience, behavioral biology, reproductive
physiology, endocrinology, and cardiovascular studies.
NIH announced the launch of the first clinical studies under
the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network. The network unites
more than 300 investigators at dozens of research centers nationwide
to study more than 40 rare diseases, most of which are difficult
to diagnose and treat because they are so poorly understood.
The new initiative will help move discoveries more quickly
to patients.
As part of the largest hypertension clinical trial conducted
to date, researchers began a comprehensive outreach program
to improve high blood pressure control nationwide. About 150
physicians in 34 states and Washington, DC, have completed
training to educate other physicians in their communities.
Their goal is to help doctors and patients prevent and better
treat high blood pressure.
The drug misoprostol was shown to provide a safe, convenient,
and inexpensive way to prevent postpartum hemorrhage, a major
killer of women in developing countries. In a clinical study
conducted in rural villages in India, women who received the
drug after birth were less likely to have serious postpartum
bleeding, and had significantly lower average blood loss, than
women who received placebo. The study was funded by the Global
Network for Women's and Children's Health Research, a public-private
partnership between NICHD and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Leading scientists and experts on women's health joined study
participants for a 2-day conference at NIH. Attendees discussed
the findings, public health impact, and future directions of
the Women's Health Initiative—the largest and most comprehensive
study of postmenopausal women's health ever conducted in the
United States.
The NIH Pathway to Independence Award program introduced
a new opportunity for promising postdoctoral scientists to
receive both mentored and independent research support from
the same award. Announced in January, the program answers a
National Academy of Sciences call for new ways to help early-career
scientific investigators progress from postdoctoral studies
to running their own research programs.
NIH created a plan for continuity of operations should a
pandemic flu outbreak occur. The goal is to maintain critical
operations and protect patients, visitors, and employees—as
well as animals and ongoing research—in the event of
widespread infectious disease or other emergencies.
The first comprehensive analysis of an animal's reaction
to the 1918 influenza virus provided new insights into this
deadly flu, which disproportionately killed young people at
the prime of life. NIAID-funded scientists found that the 1918
virus triggers a hyperactive immune response that may be the
key to its lethal effects. A deeper understanding of the 1918
virus will aid efforts to develop improved therapies against
future influenza threats, including the H5N1 avian influenza
virus.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Institutes
of Health Reform Act of 2006 by a vote of 414 to 2 on September
26; the U.S. Senate passed an amended version by unanimous
consent on December 8. The House approved the Senate version
by voice vote on December 9. The legislation—NIH's third
omnibus reauthorization in history and first since 1993—affirmed
the importance of NIH and its vital role in advancing biomedical
research to improve the health of the Nation.
NIH Director Dr. Elias Zerhouni endorsed the conclusions of
a National Academies report on women in science, which proposed
that immediate, decisive action must be taken to maximize the
potential of women scientists. The report found that women
currently face barriers to hiring and promotion in research
universities in many fields of science and engineering, which
deprives the nation of an important source of talent and may
reduce U.S. competitiveness in the global marketplace.
An imaging molecule known as FDDNP binds to abnormal proteins
in the brain and shows promise for enabling early and reliable
diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. The molecule was developed
and tested by researchers supported in part by NIA, NCRR, and
NIMH. When administered to patients before a brain scan, the
molecule helps to distinguish among people who are healthy,
those with Alzheimer's disease, and those with mild cognitive
impairment, which sometimes progresses to Alzheimer's disease.
Thirteen recipients of the 2006 NIH Director's Pioneer Award—5-Year,
$2.5 million grants that support highly innovative research—were
announced at the second annual Pioneer Award Symposium. Now
in its third year, the award is a key component of the NIH
Roadmap for Medical Research.
NIEHS-supported researchers announced that they had successfully
sequenced the DNA of 15 mouse strains most commonly used in
biomedical research. More than 8.3 million tiny genetic variations
called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were discovered
among the 15 genomes. The new data will help researchers better
understand complex genetic traits, such as why some individuals
are more susceptible to certain diseases, and how environmental
agents influence the development of disease. |
2007 |
President George W. Bush visited NIH on January 17, touring
a cancer research laboratory and participating in a discussion
on cancer prevention. It was his fifth visit to the NIH campus
in the past 4 years. The president praised the agency's work,
touting the new vaccine against cervical cancer. He was briefed
on the Cancer Genome Atlas Project, a 3-year, $100 million
collaboration between NCI and NHGRI to create a trove of molecular
data describing the genomic changes that occur in all types
of cancer.
An experimental vaccine—originally created and tested
over the past 2 decades by NIAID scientists—appears safe
and effective in preventing hepatitis E, a sometimes-deadly
viral disease prevalent in developing countries. A clinical
trial involving nearly 2,000 healthy adults in Nepal, where
the virus is widespread, found that the vaccine was nearly
96% effective in preventing hepatitis E during a follow-up
period of about 2 years.
NINDS launched the new Neurological Emergencies Treatment
Trials (NETT) network, a nationwide clinical study that will
look at emergency interventions for stroke, massive seizure,
brain or spinal cord injury, and other major emergencies that
affect the brain and nervous system. The long-term goal of
the study, conducted in ambulances and hospitals across the
country, is to improve medical care in the first minutes and
hours after neurological emergencies occur.
By modifying only 4 genes in human skin cells, researchers
supported by NCRR and NIGMS found that they could "reprogram" the
cells to give them the characteristics of embryonic stem cells.
This major advance could open doors to innovative therapies
in the future, where people's own cells might be reprogrammed
and used to repair their damaged tissues and organs.
EUREKA, a new funding initiative to help researchers with
original ideas, was launched by 5 institutes. EUREKA—exceptional,
unconventional research enabling knowledge acceleration—awards
seek to raise the profile of paradigm-shifting concepts that
might otherwise get overlooked.
A collaborative effort by 3 international research teams
uncovered new clues about why some people develop type 2 diabetes
and others don't. The NIH-funded research relied on a relatively
new method, called a genome-wide association study (GWAS),
which rapidly and cost effectively analyzes and compares genetic
differences between people with and without specific illnesses.
The scientists identified 4 new genetic risk factors for type
2 diabetes.
NIH Director Dr. Elias Zerhouni established an NIH-wide working
group to address the issues that surround GWAS research, which
holds tremendous promise for uncovering new and more effective
methods for preventing, diagnosing, and treating disease. Because
GWAS science is so new, policies for collecting, storing and
using GWAS data have not yet been set. The new working group
will gather feedback from the public, examine important issues,
and draft an NIH policy.
The International HapMap Consortium, funded in part by NHGRI,
published analyses of its second-generation map of human genetic
variation. The revised map contains more than 3.1 million genetic
variants—3 times the number reported in the initial HapMap
of 2005. The improved HapMap will help researchers find DNA
variants that influence the risk of disease and other traits.
NIH Director Dr. Elias Zerhouni met with nearly 200 members
of the scientific community to hear comments on NIH peer review,
the process of evaluating research grant applications. Over
the last 60 years, peer review has been examined several times.
The current effort to revitalize the process came as federal
funding had receded, the number of experienced reviewers had
dwindled, and grant application volume had increased in number
and complexity.
The Human Microbiome Project, part the NIH's Roadmap for
Medical Research, will explore the role of the trillions of
microbes that live within or on the human body. The "human
microbiome" is the collective genomes of all these organisms.
By analyzing these genomes, the scientists hope to discover
what microbial communities exist in different parts of the
human body and explore how they change in health and disease.
With this year's NIH Director's Pioneer Awards and the inaugural
class of NIH Director's New Innovator Awards, the agency made
a major investment in the future of science, distributing 5-year
grants totaling more than $105 million to 41 investigators.
This is the first group of New Innovator Awards and the fourth
group of Pioneer Awards. Both programs are part of an NIH Roadmap
initiative that tests new approaches to supporting research.
Scientists identified a tiny, unchanging region on an AIDS
virus protein that may be the key to neutralizing the virus.
A multi-site research team, including scientists from NIAID
and NCI, used X-ray crystallography to take detailed 3-D snapshots
of an antibody grabbing onto this stable viral region, which
HIV uses to latch onto and infect T cells. Discovery of this
potential viral weak spot could have a profound impact on development
of an AIDS vaccine.
The Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) consortium,
funded by NCRR, added 12 more academic health centers to the
12 announced in 2006. When fully implemented in 2012, 60 institutions
will be linked together to energize the discipline of clinical
and translational science.
In a September 12 ceremony in the U.S. Capitol, NIH and NASA
signed a memorandum of understanding that will help American
scientists use the International Space Station to answer questions
about human health and disease. NIH Director Dr. Elias Zerhouni
and NASA Administrator Dr. Michael D. Griffin signed a pact
to collaborate on space-related health research.
NIH research was featured in a new TV series, "Tomorrow's
Medicine Today." NIH Director Dr. Elias Zerhouni served
as guest-co-host of the discussion shows, taped at Montclair
State University studios in New Jersey. Each episode featured
interviews with NIH Institute or Center directors, who invited
extramural scientists to present their research in lay terms
for a general audience.
The NIH Council of Councils, a new advisory body to the NIH
Director, convened for the first time on November 8. Created
by the NIH Reform Act of 2006, the Council oversees Common
Fund expenditures, which pay for broad, trans-NIH initiatives
that need support no single institute or center could offer.
Council members represent the advisory councils of all 27 Institutes
and Centers plus 3 ad hoc representatives. Their mission is
to advise the NIH Director about which cross-cutting initiatives
to support.
NIH's Public Trust Initiative launched its Partners in Research
Program, a unique opportunity for scientists to team up with
community organizations. Announced in fall 2007 and set to
award grants in 2008, the 2-year pilot was fast-tracked. The
goals of the partnerships are to better communicate research
results and to make sure the health care needs and interests
of the community are included in development of research programs.
A draft environmental impact statement for expansion of the
National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) to accommodate Walter
Reed Army Medical Center's move to Bethesda was released in
mid-December 2007, launching a 45-day period for public comments.
Between 2,500 and 4,000 workers are expected to be added to
the existing NNMC and tenant staff of 7,500, and NNMC outpatient
visits are expected to double to about 4,000 per weekday, which
is expected to have a major impact on traffic congestion in
the area. |
This page was last reviewed on
July 2, 2008
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