Government Service as a Public and Personal Good

Abstract

The concerted, strategic efforts of government leaders can create rapid accelerations in knowledge and the application of that knowledge for the public good. Government service can represent part or all of one’s career. Working at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) early in my career helped me develop a macro-level understanding of how the NIH operates, what forces propel change, how priorities are set, and how programs are developed. While leading a large division at the National Cancer Institute later in my career, after many years in a research institution and academia, we created new models for collaboration, including transdisciplinary centers, the first NIH unit focused on dissemination (now implementation science), and tools that enabled citizens, scientists, and others to access and use effective interventions, new data sets, and ways to aggregate data to show local cancer profiles. In this article, I provide my own career as an example of the opportunities afforded by federal service—for both individuals in government service and the public good.