Invite the NIH Director

When inviting NIH Director Dr. Jayanta Bhattacharya to speak at or participate in an internal or external event or meeting, or when requesting time to meet with him, please provide the following information:

• description of the event or key topic;
• information on other speakers or participants;
• information on the NIH Director's role (whether they are invited to be an attendee, a participant, or a speaker);
• date, time, and location of the event and whether remote participation is acceptable; and
• draft or final copy of the agenda, and/or other background information, if appropriate. 

When you submit an invitation to [email protected], you will receive an acknowledgement email from the Exec Sec team. It is our goal to send a final response to Dr. Bhattacharya's invitations within three weeks. If you have a question on the status of an existing invitation, please contact [email protected]. For more information on how to invite other NIH Leadership, please visit Executive Portfolio Services.

When NIH Director Dr. Jayanta Bhattacharya receives an invitation or request for a meeting or presentation, Exec Sec sends the relevant ICOs an assignment via SAAVI to ask for the ICO leadership’s advice as the subject matter experts. As your ICO’s liaison, you should request a recommendation from the ICO Director or other Senior Leadership Official as to whether Dr. Bhattacharya should accept, decline, or recommend a surrogate for the invitation. Vetting officials may wish to consider the following: 

• Is this meeting/event a good use of the Dr. Bhattacharya’s time?
• Are there any potential benefits or drawbacks?
• Are there any sensitivities surrounding the topic or the organization/participants?
• Are you aware of other NIH staff who have been invited or will be attending the meeting or event?
• Is there any pertinent information that should be shared with Dr. Bhattacharya?
• Is there another NIH staff member who may be well positioned to attend on behalf of Dr. Bhattacharya?

Your ICO’s vetting recommendation should be brief (the questions above are for consideration only) and may include an explanatory comment or relevant information to help Dr. Bhattacharya decide whether to accept or decline an invitation. These comments may be entered in the Assignment Response box under your recommendation selection within the SAAVI work folder task. If you recommend that a surrogate attend for him, please provide the person’s full name and title. 

Exec Sec normally requests your recommendation within 2 business days of receiving a vetting assignment, though some deadlines are shorter. Please note the due date when receiving the assignment as some vetting assignments may require a very quick turnaround depending on the timing and type of event. 

Note Regarding Surrogates: If Dr. Bhattacharya declines an invitation and decides that a surrogate be provided as a possible alternative, Exec Sec will contact the inviter to let them know that he cannot attend but has suggested that they may wish to extend an invitation to the individual selected as a surrogate (the surrogate’s contact information will be provided to the inviter). Please note that surrogates are not required to accept an invitation if one is extended to them.