OBSSR Updates
June 30, 2020
On the date of the formation of OBSSR 25 years ago, James M. Anderson, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, provides a perspective of OBSSR from NIH leadership.
On July 1, 1995, the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) was formed with Norman Anderson as its first Director. That year, the Digital Video Disc (DVD) was introduced. JavaScript was developed and web browsers like Netscape were making the Internet accessible to the general public. Amazon sold its first book and eBay was launched. In the medical sciences, Hemophilus influenzae became the first free living organism to have its complete genome sequenced. The first protease inhibitor was approved by the FDA for combination treatment of HIV/AIDS. Clearly, much has changed in medicine, technology, and the world in the 25 years since OBSSR was formed.
