Dear NIH Family:

I want to thank those of you who joined the Anti-Harassment Program Town Hall either in person or on videocast last Friday, December 7. If you were unable to participate, I encourage you to watch the archived videocast available on the NIH Videocast website.

There were many good questions from Town Hall attendees, from those in the room and those watching by video. We will post many of these questions, along with answers, on the Civil Program webpage. I recommend you review these to help navigate the new policies and program. You may email any additional questions to civilprogram@nih.gov.

We will continue to communicate regularly about the NIH Anti-Harassment Program, reporting options, and the upcoming workplace climate and harassment survey. I strongly encourage you to take the survey when it launches in January 2019. Data collected from the survey will be integral to informing our anti-harassment efforts for NIH staff and will serve as a model for our extramural grantees to use at their own institutions.

Changing the pervasive culture of sexual harassment in science and fostering a culture of respect for all NIH staff is a huge undertaking and requires that everyone take part. We can do better, and we must do better. Harassment doesn’t work here.

With best wishes for the upcoming holidays,

Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.

Director