Pros
NIAID's mission inspires most of the NIAID staff to dedicate themselves to their work. In addition, NIAID has significant resources and infrastructure to enable its staff to do their jobs effectively. NIAID's top leaders are well respected for their knowledge and skills, and as a result they have a great deal of influence at NIH and elsewhere in the federal government.
Cons
NIAID's senior leaders have been in their positions for many years. While this has provided NIAID with a great deal of stability, it also has resulted in (or at least contributed to) an almost habitual tendency among NIAID's senior leaders to dismiss and disparage ideas and approaches from other organizations. And while NIAID's anxious and volatile director is more receptive and humane than he was 10 or 20 years ago, a culture of fear still pervades NIAID. This culture of fear has stifled risk taking and discouraged alternative opinions and ideas that might enable NIAID to achieve better results from its important work.