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1990–2003

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Human Genome News, July 1992; 4(2)

Healy Elevates NCHGR ELSI Program To Branch Status

The NIH Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) program of the National Center for Human Genome Research (NCHGR) was officially elevated to branch status on June 11 when NIH Director Bernadine Healy signed the Federal Register notice announcing the change. Eric Juengst was appointed Acting Chief of the ELSI Branch by NCHGR Acting Director Michael Gottesman. Juengst has served as Director of the ELSI program since it was first set up within the NCHGR Research Grants Branch.

This organizational change is expected to allow NCHGR to define explicitly the responsibilities of the ELSI program and its roles in carrying out the NCHGR mission. The ELSI Branch will have the following functions:

  • Advise the NCHGR Director and Deputy Director on ethical, legal, and social implications of the NIH Human Genome Program and represent the directors at meetings where ethical concerns are discussed.
  • Develop recommendations, guidelines, and policy options for the orderly introduction of information generated by human genome research into biomedical practice.
  • Manage a portfolio of ELSI grants and develop requests for applications and program announcements focusing on the ELSI portion of the NIH Human Genome Program.
  • Provide staff support for the ELSI Working Group of the NIH-DOE Joint Subcommittee on the Human Genome.
  • Coordinate ELSI policy development with the NIH Science Policy Studies Center.
  • Avoid duplication of effort by coordinating grant awards with agencies such as the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, and DOE.
  • Consult with other NIH programs regarding the ethical, legal, and social aspects of human genetics research.

HGMIS Staff

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Human Genome Program, U.S. Department of Energy, Human Genome News (v4n2).

Human Genome Project 1990–2003

The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international 13-year effort, 1990 to 2003. Primary goals were to discover the complete set of human genes and make them accessible for further biological study, and determine the complete sequence of DNA bases in the human genome. See Timeline for more HGP history.

Human Genome News

Published from 1989 until 2002, this newsletter facilitated HGP communication, helped prevent duplication of research effort, and informed persons interested in genome research.