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> But the project’s hefty price tag—an estimated $312 million over 6 years—drew immediate concern from several members of Congress, who asked GAO to conduct a r

> But the project’s hefty price tag—an estimated $312 million over 6 years—drew immediate concern from several members of Congress, who asked GAO to conduct a review just 2 months after the initiative was announced. Many AI and Crypto projects have gotten similar amounts. As a society we decide were to invest our money. When that decision is removed from society and put in the hands of a few investors we get this result. Money for buzz-word pyramidal schemes while projects that would change the life of millions are stopped. There is something broken in the economy right now.

jrmg 2y ago
$312 million sounds big, but it’s just $1 per US person.
- debacle 2y ago
  We are throwing 10X that at the middle east and eastern europe on a weekly basis.
Terretta 2y ago
> estimated $312 million over 6 years—drew immediate concern from several members of Congress Napkin cost analysis: • $8.50 per year per patient, or $0.02 per day per patient // via: https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=%24352%2C000%2C000+%2F+%286+*+365+days%29+%2F+6%2C900%2C000+persons https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=%24352%2C000%2C000+%2F+... • $0.17 per year per American to fund it // via: https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=%24352%2C000%2C000+%2F+%286+*+365+days%29+%2F+%28population+of+the+U.S.%29 https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=%24352%2C000%2C000+%2F+... --- > As a society we decide where to invest our money. It's hard to believe there's any American that doesn't know someone with a family member affected by Alzheimers. Prevalence: An estimated 6.9 million Americans age 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s dementia in 2024. Seventy-three percent are age 75 or older (see Figure 2, page 23). Of the total U.S. population: • About 1 in 9 people (10.9%) age 65 and older has Alzheimer’s dementia. • The percentage of people with Alzheimer’s dementia increases with age: 5.0% of people age 65 to 74, 13.2% of people age 75 to 84, and 33.4% of people age 85 and older have Alzheimer’s dementia. • People younger than 65 can also develop Alzheimer's dementia. Although prevalence studies of younger-onset dementia in the U.S. are limited, researchers believe about 110 of every 100,000 people age 30 to 64 years, or about 200,000 Americans in total, have younger-onset dementia. Source: https://www.alz.org/media/Documents/alzheimers-facts-and-figures.pdf https://www.alz.org/media/Documents/alzheimers-facts-and-fig...
blackhawkC17 2y ago
> Many AI and Crypto projects have gotten similar amounts. As a society we decide were to invest our money. Biotech companies (including those tackling Alzheimer’s) have gotten much larger amounts from VCs. The U.S. government also directly funds medical research to the tune of tens of billions of dollars annually. I guess people must find a reason to bash investors.
Nasrudith 2y ago
The success of a project isn't measured by how lofty the goals are multiplied by the budget it draws. The 'lack of basic project management practices' is pretty damning a statement for something which is expected to have hundreds of millions in budget.
gwerbret 2y ago
I don't think the problem is with society, or with the economy. The money was already available for this project, and funding was essentially assured. The problem is that, without putting too fine a point on it, the folks running the National Institute on Aging couldn't find their rear ends with both hands and a flashlight. There is a profound degree of stagnation in some of the National Institutes of Health, and the NIA is no exception, as exemplified by the fact that the current NIA director has been in that role for over 30 years. The leadership group puts out a list of goals for their "strategic directions" every 5 years or so, and to my knowledge, they've never actually achieved any of those goals. As outlined in the report mentioned in the article [1], the NIA's approach to spearheading this large (for them) initiative basically involved identifying job opportunities, putting out a call for grant applications...and that was it. They didn't bother to articulate any actual vision for the project, nor develop any way to account for how the money would be spent. So at the end of the six-year program, there would have been 100 different projects, storing data in 200 different silos, $300 million spent, and zero to show for it. In the end, NIA chose to can the initiative rather than open up scrutiny to how they spend the *rest* of their money (their yearly budget is over $4 billion [2]). 1: https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-24-106886.pdf https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-24-106886.pdf 2: https://www.nia.nih.gov/about/budget/fiscal-year-2024-budget https://www.nia.nih.gov/about/budget/fiscal-year-2024-budget

jrmg 2y ago

$312 million sounds big, but it’s just $1 per US person.

debacle 2y ago
We are throwing 10X that at the middle east and eastern europe on a weekly basis.

Terretta 2y ago

> estimated $312 million over 6 years—drew immediate concern from several members of Congress Napkin cost analysis: • $8.50 per year per patient, or $0.02 per day per patient // via: https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=%24352%2C000%2C000+%2F+%286+*+365+days%29+%2F+6%2C900%2C000+persons https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=%24352%2C000%2C000+%2F+... • $0.17 per year per American to fund it // via: https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=%24352%2C000%2C000+%2F+%286+*+365+days%29+%2F+%28population+of+the+U.S.%29 https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=%24352%2C000%2C000+%2F+... --- > As a society we decide where to invest our money. It's hard to believe there's any American that doesn't know someone with a family member affected by Alzheimers. Prevalence: An estimated 6.9 million Americans age 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s dementia in 2024. Seventy-three percent are age 75 or older (see Figure 2, page 23). Of the total U.S. population: • About 1 in 9 people (10.9%) age 65 and older has Alzheimer’s dementia. • The percentage of people with Alzheimer’s dementia increases with age: 5.0% of people age 65 to 74, 13.2% of people age 75 to 84, and 33.4% of people age 85 and older have Alzheimer’s dementia. • People younger than 65 can also develop Alzheimer's dementia. Although prevalence studies of younger-onset dementia in the U.S. are limited, researchers believe about 110 of every 100,000 people age 30 to 64 years, or about 200,000 Americans in total, have younger-onset dementia. Source: https://www.alz.org/media/Documents/alzheimers-facts-and-figures.pdf https://www.alz.org/media/Documents/alzheimers-facts-and-fig...

blackhawkC17 2y ago

> Many AI and Crypto projects have gotten similar amounts. As a society we decide were to invest our money. Biotech companies (including those tackling Alzheimer’s) have gotten much larger amounts from VCs. The U.S. government also directly funds medical research to the tune of tens of billions of dollars annually. I guess people must find a reason to bash investors.

Nasrudith 2y ago

The success of a project isn't measured by how lofty the goals are multiplied by the budget it draws. The 'lack of basic project management practices' is pretty damning a statement for something which is expected to have hundreds of millions in budget.

gwerbret 2y ago

I don't think the problem is with society, or with the economy. The money was already available for this project, and funding was essentially assured. The problem is that, without putting too fine a point on it, the folks running the National Institute on Aging couldn't find their rear ends with both hands and a flashlight. There is a profound degree of stagnation in some of the National Institutes of Health, and the NIA is no exception, as exemplified by the fact that the current NIA director has been in that role for over 30 years. The leadership group puts out a list of goals for their "strategic directions" every 5 years or so, and to my knowledge, they've never actually achieved any of those goals. As outlined in the report mentioned in the article [1], the NIA's approach to spearheading this large (for them) initiative basically involved identifying job opportunities, putting out a call for grant applications...and that was it. They didn't bother to articulate any actual vision for the project, nor develop any way to account for how the money would be spent. So at the end of the six-year program, there would have been 100 different projects, storing data in 200 different silos, $300 million spent, and zero to show for it. In the end, NIA chose to can the initiative rather than open up scrutiny to how they spend the *rest* of their money (their yearly budget is over $4 billion [2]). 1: https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-24-106886.pdf https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-24-106886.pdf 2: https://www.nia.nih.gov/about/budget/fiscal-year-2024-budget https://www.nia.nih.gov/about/budget/fiscal-year-2024-budget