SUBOPTIMAL: Funding Comes Too Late In Biomedical Research Careers. “So the younger scientists don’t start getting their own direct funding until they are past their peak years of research productivity. That’s dumb. They spend their younger years as grad students and (poorly paid) post docs. This puts their research directions much more under the control of (older) professors who run labs and have grants flowing to them. The young turk with a hunch does not always have the freedom to follow that hunch. Not good.”