Director's Note

At NIDDK, we are fortunate to have dedicated employees and volunteers who work tirelessly toward their shared commitment to the Institute’s mission. And it shows. In 2017, NIDDK ranked No. 1 among large institutes and centers across NIH in employee engagement, global satisfaction and other measures. But we didn’t stop there. As you will read about in this issue, NIDDK staff created an innovative way to sift through the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, or FEVS, results in order to keep finding ways for us and others to improve.

The new method, called the EVS Analysis & Results Tool, or EVS ART, allows users to easily transfer an enormous amount of data into a practical format, compared to the prior year, and create an informative dashboard. Such data analysis once took days, weeks, or more, but with the help of EVS ART, it can now take mere minutes – giving leadership more time to spend on employee-based initiatives. The creativity and team work of NIDDK Executive Officer Camille Hoover, Senior Management Analyst Robin Klevins, and Analyst Vy Tran – who developed EVS ART – are only surpassed by their generosity, as they freely explain and share this valuable tool across the Federal Government. Their contributions to myriad offices and agencies across the country is difficult to overestimate, and I am so proud.

Also in this issue, we feature Dr. Carol Haft, program director in NIDDK’s Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolic Diseases. Carol exemplifies the dedication of NIDDK employees. As associate director of grants administration, she compiles insight from 28 program directors and strives for fairness and consistency in appropriation of funds. Her unique background as a basic scientist and a person with type 1 diabetes help her keep the end goal in mind as she works on each grant: Improving the lives of people with diabetes and other chronic diseases.

It’s not only NIDDK employees but also our Advisory Council members who step up to help accomplish NIDDK’s mission day in and day out. I specifically want to thank five members who so graciously served longer terms than planned as we encountered some delays in the process to nominate new Council members. We bid a very fond farewell in this issue to outgoing members Dr. David Brenner, Dr. Eugene Chang, Dr. Craig Peters, Dr. Jean Schaffer, and Ellen Leake, who extended their terms for 180 days to cover our January 2018 Council. We are grateful for their service.

As you read this issue, I hope you will truly feel the commitment of our employees and volunteers, as I do every day at NIDDK.

In good health,
Griffin P. Rodgers, M.D., M.A.C.P.
Director, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
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