Elias Zerhouni listens to the gripes at his third town hall meeting with employees since becoming director of the National Institutes of Health nearly two years ago. The Bethesda, Md., campus lacks adequate parking. The new computer system is a mess. The parking lots are too dark.
Zerhouni shares his problems, too. Congress wants him to explain why government scientists are earning millions in fees and stock options from private firms. The agency remains on edge as its the nation's first line of defense against bioterror. NIH has been taking heat for funding research into HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases. "NIH has been likened to the National Endowment for the Arts with a chemistry set," he says. "I'm very offended by that."
Zerhouni, an engineer at heart, takes it all in. As he sees it, that's his job. First listen, then come up with a solution and get everybody on ...
