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Important Events in NIGMS History
July 16, 1958 — The Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) approved establishment of the Division of General Medical Sciences.
October 17, 1962 — Congress authorized establishment of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
January 30, 1963 — The HEW Secretary approved establishment of NIGMS.
October 8, 1963 — The National Advisory General Medical Sciences Council held its first meeting.
October 13, 1982 — NIGMS celebrated its 20th anniversary by establishing the DeWitt Stetten, Jr., Lecture. Dr. David S. Hogness, Stanford University, gave the first lecture.
October 1, 1989 — Administration of the Minority Biomedical Research Support program was transferred to NIGMS from the NIH Division of Research Resources.
December 23, 2011 — Administration of the Institutional Development Award program was transferred to NIGMS from the former National Center for Research Resources, along with NCRR’s biomedical technology programs.
July 31, 2012 — NIH creates the Office of Emergency Care Research (OECR), a focal point for basic, clinical, and translational emergency care research and training across NIH. OECR is located in NIGMS.
May 4, 2015 — NIGMS establishes the Center for Research Capacity Building (CRCB).
March 9, 2017 — Administration of the Science Education Partnership Award program is transferred to NIGMS from NIH’s Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives.
January 2018 — NIGMS reorganizes into three scientific divisions: Biophysics, Biomedical Technology, and Computational Biosciences (BBCB); Genetics and Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (GMCDB); and Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biological Chemistry (PPBC). CRCB becomes a full division, and OECR transfers to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
NIGMS Legislative Chronology
October 17, 1962 — Public Law 87-838 authorized the U.S. Surgeon General to establish an institute to conduct and support research and research training in the general or basic medical sciences and in related natural or behavioral sciences that have significance for two or more other institutes of NIH, or that lie outside the general areas of responsibility of any other institute.