NIH principal deputy director Dr. Lawrence Tabak addresses OD all-hands meeting.

On July 16, Office of the Director employees gathered at an all-hands meeting to hear NIH leadership thank them for their hard work, describe challenges and accomplishments and relay results of a recent employee survey.

To a full Masur Auditorium, Dr. Lawrence Tabak, NIH principal deputy director, joked, “The rumor is that I’m going to retire and that this was the only way I could get anyone to come to the party.” He urged everyone to “Exhale! Nothing bad is going to happen…Thank you, first and foremost. Without you, very important things would not get done around here.”

Would you be willing to forego your daily burger for the possibility of living a little longer? Would you tolerate some heartburn for the possible benefits of a statin? People make decisions about the risks and benefits of treatments and behaviors every day. But are they making them based on solid information and understanding?

In his recent lecture, “Communicating Possible Harms and Benefits of Treatment and Lifestyle,” Prof. David Spiegelhalter argued that researchers and clinicians need a broad array of tools if they are going to improve public understanding of health-related research.