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Whilst I agree that there are some very wrongheaded policies out there which waste resources, good scientists and medical researchers (or if you prefer, people

Whilst I agree that there are some very wrongheaded policies out there which waste resources, good scientists and medical researchers (or if you prefer, people who could potentially be good scientists and medical researchers) are a limited resource and they’re not being diverted, on the whole, to the war on drugs etc. It might be more relevant to think/complain about eg why data scientists are going into advertising instead of certain types of medical research where their skills might be very relevant.

pas 7y ago
There is a very, very, very, very, really truly properly real effect of money for research. More money means you can run the same studies/trials on bigger cohorts. This directly leads to better data, which means we can demand stricter hypothesis testing (p-values, narrower confidence intervals). More money means you can simply hire more technicians to do more lab work. More specialists for data processing, statistics, stats review. You could compensate referees ... maybe, just a thought. Nah, just let's directly pay more to Elsevier. More money would mean better and bigger experimental machines. More money would/could translate into better pay for PhDs, so they wouldn't be incentivized to leave for industry. And so on.
IpV8 7y ago
It is surprisingly difficult for private sector data scientists and engineers to help with any type of research. Universities look at data problems and just throw unpaid/underpaid graduate and undergraduate students at the problems. There is no way any private sector data scientists can compete with that. Even trying to create tools for the grad students to use isn't really that viable. There is so little budget to spend on the tools, and the turnover is very high in research, so the amount of time it takes for sales people to forge relationships and trust is lost. I am not sure what the answer is. I have seen some spectacular utilization of data analytics and science by insurance, banking, credit unions etc. that I think would directly translate to better medical research, but I have no idea what path to take to bring it there.
- fiestaman 7y ago
  Maybe reach out to some enterprising professors you knew in college and offer your specialties?
jawilson2 7y ago
Or why they go into trading. Like I did. I got a BME PhD, did neurology/BCI research as a professor, and had to leave because I couldn't get grants. Also, I thought it would be cool to move my family out of my parents' basement, since about 40% of every paycheck went to student loans.

pas 7y ago

There is a very, very, very, very, really truly properly real effect of money for research. More money means you can run the same studies/trials on bigger cohorts. This directly leads to better data, which means we can demand stricter hypothesis testing (p-values, narrower confidence intervals). More money means you can simply hire more technicians to do more lab work. More specialists for data processing, statistics, stats review. You could compensate referees ... maybe, just a thought. Nah, just let's directly pay more to Elsevier. More money would mean better and bigger experimental machines. More money would/could translate into better pay for PhDs, so they wouldn't be incentivized to leave for industry. And so on.

IpV8 7y ago

It is surprisingly difficult for private sector data scientists and engineers to help with any type of research. Universities look at data problems and just throw unpaid/underpaid graduate and undergraduate students at the problems. There is no way any private sector data scientists can compete with that. Even trying to create tools for the grad students to use isn't really that viable. There is so little budget to spend on the tools, and the turnover is very high in research, so the amount of time it takes for sales people to forge relationships and trust is lost. I am not sure what the answer is. I have seen some spectacular utilization of data analytics and science by insurance, banking, credit unions etc. that I think would directly translate to better medical research, but I have no idea what path to take to bring it there.

fiestaman 7y ago
Maybe reach out to some enterprising professors you knew in college and offer your specialties?

jawilson2 7y ago

Or why they go into trading. Like I did. I got a BME PhD, did neurology/BCI research as a professor, and had to leave because I couldn't get grants. Also, I thought it would be cool to move my family out of my parents' basement, since about 40% of every paycheck went to student loans.