Januuy 9, 1990 Yol. XUJ No. I 'The Second U.S. Departnxn1 af Health Beat Thing and Human Senicea A&.utPayda.y" Natiomd. lmtitllta of Heahh Recorid Human Genome Office Attains Center Status By l.eslie Fink NIH's role in the human genome project, when it was formally ei;rablished by 11t:Cretary the worldwide effort ro sort and characterize of health and human se.rvkes Dr. Louis Sul­ the body's entire set of genetic instructions, livan. As an independent center, NCHGR took on new emphasis recently when a sepa­ will n:ceive di.reedy from Congress monies ear­ rate NIH center was established to fund and marked for human genome research which, oversee the work. The new National Center this year, will be about $60 million. The for Human Genome Research (NCHGR), for­ NCHGR ll1 also equivalent to other NIH merly the Office of Human Genome Research instirures in its role in advising the NIH under the NIH din:ctor, will now be equiv­ director on matters relating to the center's alent to other NIH institutes in its authority mission. In addition to being the focus within to award grants and plan and direct scientific NIH for usues relating to human genome research. .research, NCHGR works with other federal Directed by Dr. James D. Watson, the new agencies to coordinate, plan and develop pol­ center will distribute funds for research aimed icy on this project. Pnsidmt •mi Mt:i. 811Sh 11uitri the Clir1ital Cen­ at locating---and then analy:i:ing the chemical NOIGR currently has a staff of about 30 ur DK. 22 to wiJh NIH tmplr,ytt1 and patimtJ structure of. all the genes on the 23 pain of employees and expects to raise that number ht.,ppy hoJidayJ. The [mt /11,,,;/y flisitri a• •<bilt chromosomes contained in human cells. Scien­ eventually to about 40. As deputy director, AIDS Jldlit:nt s11ppo,, g,-OMP and a sllPJMI g,t»1p tists refer to the collection of all the genetic Dr. Elke Jordan oversees the day-to-<lay busi­ for parmtJ of rhiJdrm with AIDS, when reasO#.al information in an organism as its genome. ness of NCHGR, which is housed in the Funds distributed by NOIGR will include Lister Hill Center (Bldg. 38A). gifts wttT ~ha11gu/. 8,uh gaw a lmef •~ in MAs11r AMditorirm, toMChi,rg °" 1hr si111a1ia m grants for individual research projects as well According to Warson, "Gene mapping and Pa1ltl"1tl tl"4 thanking NIH rt1t11rrhm, mregim-1 as work in multidisciplinary centers, and sup­ analysis will be the key tools of biology of the •nd s11ppqrt stafffor thur faring ,jfonJ, par­ port fur graduate and postdoctoral training. 21st century. When finally interpreted," he tintlarly in the 11r1tgglr •g•i,ut AIDS. DHHS Befure NCHGR was established, funds ,ays, "the genetic mesaages encoded within I«nklfJ Dr. Ltmis S11IJU1tt1J and his wif, Gir1gn­ pegged fur human genome research were DNA molecules will provide the ultimate ~ thr p,rsidmt d,,rir1g his 'lliJit. Set administetcd by the National Institute: of Gen• answers to the chemical underpinnings of dttaiJ.s ;. mxl iu,u of the Record. era! Medical Sciences. NCHGR became official on Oct. 1, 1989, January Is Designated 'Remember t/r.e Man ... RellU!mber the Dream' Blood Donor Month Benjamin Hooks To Keynote King Commemorative Program What do victims of a New Year's Eve car The NIH is sponsoring a program in com­ accident, a mother giving birth, a teenager memoration of the birth, life and legacy of with leukemia and a patient undergoing heart Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Friday, Jan. surgery have in common? They arc all poten­ 12 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Masur tial blood recipiems. The list of situations Auditorium, Bldg. 10. The theme of this requiring blood Sttms to be growing every year's program is '"Remember the Man ... day, bur one fact remains the same: there is Remember the Dream." only one source of blood-the volunteer The program will feature Dr. Benjamin L. donor. With the manufiu:t:un: of synthetic Hooks, exrcutive director of the National blood still in the future, voluntarily donated Association for the Advancement of Colored blood is still one of the bm medicines avail­ People (NAACP), where he has served since able for the treatment of a wide range of 1977. He is a well-known and highly effective illnesses. orator, a licensed minister, a businessman and January, National Blood Donor Month, has a lawyer. been set aside as the month to salute the vol­ Prior to assuming directonhip of the unteer blood donors who provide this resource NAACP, Hooks was a commissioner with the and to draw attention to the constant need for federal Communicatioll5 Commis6ion. He was new blood donon. Herc at NIH there ill a cofounder and vice president of the Mutual very strong reminder of the individuals who Federal Savings and Loan Association of need our help. The Oinical Center suppons Memphis for 15 years, from 1955 to 1969, a Hooks haa produced from Memphis and many patients who .require blood either one career he pursued while also working both in hosted his own television program, ComJma­ time or duriog an ex.tended period of time. To law and the ministry. tions ;,. Bladt. and White, coproduced anothrr, n=t these needs, the NIH blood bank (part For several years, Hooks was an as5istant Porty Prmnt Spe."1, and has been a panelist on of the hospital's department of transfusion public defender in Memphis, representing the What ls Yom Faith. He auended l.eMoyne medicine) needs mon: than 40 volunteer blood legal interests of the poor and indigent. He College and Howard University, and received donon every day. practiced general law in Memphis and was his J.D. degree from Depaul University Col­ Modem technology has increased medicine"s later selected as the first black judge in Shelby lege of law in 1948. efficiency of blood usage. Whole blood can be County (Memphu) Criminal Court, wheR he following the keynote address, the D.C. (SN DONOR WION1'H, ,._., ZJ served with dutinccion for Sn'l!ral years. CSee IUNG, ..... 2J page 2 The Record January 9, 1990 DONOR MONTH Lecture Series on Taxes (Continued from Page 1. ) Tax rime is scary enough for Americans; ir can be a nightmare for foreigners working in divided into componcnrs and the patient can the U nited Scares. be given only rhe pare he or she really needs. The Fogarty International Center's Interna­ One blood donation could save three or four tional Services and Communications B ranch is lives. However, this information should nor hosting a free lecture series ro help foreign sci­ leave the impression char the blood supply is entists unravel the U.S. rax system. overflowing. Just the opposire is true. Less The series of ninr sessions will begin J an. rhan 5 percent of che eligible popularion of 12 and run through Apr. 6. The locations and rhe Un iced Scates donates blooJ. New donors time vary. The cal ks will cover federal and are conscancly being soughr. scare annual rerurns, as well as such special This month, the NIH blood bank honors issues as tax crcary benefits. the thousands of donors who have supported The series is open to NIH Visiting Program Clinical Center patients and NIH research Dr. Harry V. Gelboi11. chief of 1he L,1bom1ory of participants, nonimmigrant guest researchers needs. Everyone who has thought of g iving Molec11lar Ca1'Ci11ogenesis , NCJ. /msmted 111•0 hon­ and special volunteers, nonimmigrants on blood is urged co scare out rhe nineties by orary !ec111mhip1 011 a recent trip to japan. He expert or expert consultant appointments, FIC donaring chis month. For more informarion, gave the Nakaso11e Lect11re at the National Cancer scholars-in-residence, flC incernarional or to make an appointment, please call Cemer Resea,rh Jmti111te in Tokyo. spomored by the research fellows and ocher nonimmig ranc sci­ 496-1048. Fo1111datio11 for P,-omotion of Cancer Resem·<'h. 1-le entists working officially at the NIH. The NIH blood bank is ntrrcnd y located in then tn;ve/ed to Sendai 10 present ,m honorary lec­ The ISCB also offers free, private rax con­ temporary quarters on rhe fifth floor of Bldg. t11re jointly sponsored by !he Fo11nda1io11 of Te1hoko su]cacions for NJH foreig n scientists. T he tax I0's D wing. le will move co permanent quar­ Medical S()(iety. The lectures are part of a series of consultant will nor prepare forms, bur will ters on the hospital's new first floor wing am111al prese111atio11s spomored by the fo1111datio11.s i11 advise scienrisrs abom problems and soon ; look for an announcement in the ncog11itio11 of i11divid11al excellence in ca11ce,­ procedures. Record. D t'eSl!Llt'Ch . Check with your intramural administrative office for a copy of the lecture schedule. for more derails about the lecrures, call 496-7357; to sched ule a consulranr appointment, phone KING 496-6166. D (Continued from Page 1. ) Yomh Chorale Alumni C horus will provide musical selections. Edward J ackson, currently director of the D.C. Youth Chorale at the The NIH Record Duke Ellington School of the Arts in W ash­ Pub lished biweekly at Bethesda, Md .. by the Edirorial ington, D.C. , and a voice instructor, will Oix·rarions Brauch, Division of Publi( lnfonnation, fur [he direct the alumni chorus. informar1on of employees of the National li,stitutes of This program is sponsored by the N IH Hcal1h, Departmenr of Health and H uman Services, and Divis ion of Equal Opporrunicy and irs I 990 circulated co nonemp loyees by subscriprion onli• through MLK planning commicree.