List of Events in NHGRI History - 1997

1997

• January 1997 – Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Secretary Donna E. Shalala signs documents giving National Center for Human Genome Research (NCHGR) a new name and new "status" among other research institutes at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The new name, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), more accurately reflects its growth and accomplishments. As an institute, NHGRI can more appropriately interact with other federal agencies and share equal standing with other institutes at NIH.
• March 1997 – A government-citizen group suggests policies to limit genetic discrimination in the workplace.
• May 1997 – The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and other scientists show that three specific alterations in the breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 are associated with an increased risk of breast, ovarian and prostate cancers.
• June 1997 – The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) scientists precisely identify a gene abnormality that causes some cases of Parkinson's disease.
• July 1997 – A map of human chromosome 7 is completed.
• August 1997 – NHGRI Office of Science Education (OSE) launches first Genomics Short Course for college teachers at NIH.
• December 1997 – The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and other researchers identify an altered gene that causes Pendred syndrome, an inherited form of deafness.