Clinical research scientist vs clinical researcher

The differences between clinical research scientists and clinical researchers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a clinical research scientist and a clinical researcher. Additionally, a clinical research scientist has an average salary of $99,160, which is higher than the $55,453 average annual salary of a clinical researcher.

The top three skills for a clinical research scientist include clinical research, clinical trials and clinical development. The most important skills for a clinical researcher are patients, informed consent, and IRB.

Clinical research scientist vs clinical researcher overview

	Clinical Research Scientist	Clinical Researcher
Yearly salary	$99,160	$55,453
Hourly rate	$47.67	$26.66
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	128,547	60,864
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	2	2

What does a clinical research scientist do?

A clinical research scientist is responsible for assisting physicians in conducting laboratory research and examinations to identify diseases and establish treatment plans. They also inspect medical tools and equipment to prevent hazards and operational delays. A clinical research scientist must have excellent communication skills and extensive knowledge of the medical industry to provide the highest quality care services for the patients.

What does a clinical researcher do?

A clinical researcher is primarily in charge of conducting research trials for medicine and health care development. Their responsibilities mainly revolve around conducting extensive research and analysis by gathering samples, performing experiments, working with research participants, and collaborating with other researchers and scientists. Moreover, as a clinical researcher, it is essential to maintain records of all experiments, summarize findings into reports and presentations, and monitor every progress, all while adhering to the research's deadlines, budgets, goals, and policies.

Clinical research scientist vs clinical researcher salary

Clinical research scientists and clinical researchers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Clinical Research Scientist	Clinical Researcher
Average salary	$99,160	$55,453
Salary range	Between $63,000 And $154,000	Between $38,000 And $79,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Santa Rosa, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Meta	Edwards Lifesciences
Best paying industry	Pharmaceutical	Pharmaceutical

Differences between clinical research scientist and clinical researcher education

There are a few differences between a clinical research scientist and a clinical researcher in terms of educational background:

	Clinical Research Scientist	Clinical Researcher
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common major	Biology	Biology
Most common college	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Clinical research scientist vs clinical researcher demographics

Here are the differences between clinical research scientists' and clinical researchers' demographics:

	Clinical Research Scientist	Clinical Researcher
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 35.4% Female, 64.6%	Male, 38.3% Female, 61.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 2.5% Unknown, 7.4% Hispanic or Latino, 14.0% Asian, 13.5% White, 62.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 2.5% Unknown, 7.4% Hispanic or Latino, 14.0% Asian, 13.5% White, 62.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between clinical research scientist and clinical researcher duties and responsibilities

Clinical research scientist example responsibilities.

Supervise and manage planning, implementation, conduct and reporting of assign early phase international clinical studies in oncology.
Facilitate IRB approval, when require.
Compile and submit reports to U.S. FDA.
Provide draft responses to FDA questions to senior management.
Resolve IRB issues and implement IRB mandate changes in the protocol with amendments.
Recruit investigators perform pre-study visits, negotiate budgets, initiate and monitor studies and verify data for accuracy and completeness.

Clinical researcher example responsibilities.

Manage site master file contents and work with sites to ensure communication requirements between site and IRB are adhere to.
Establish and maintain strong community partnerships to achieve HIV prevention objectives.
Maintain study database to in compliance with FDA regulations.
Perform NIH studies, coordinate interviews of clinical research trial participant's.
Support IRB applications and analyze collected data.
Interact with and assess patients to determine effectiveness of medicine.

Clinical research scientist vs clinical researcher skills

Common clinical research scientist skills

Clinical Research, 11%
Clinical Trials, 7%
Clinical Development, 6%
Data Management, 5%
Oncology, 5%
Clinical Data, 5%

Common clinical researcher skills

Patients, 16%
Informed Consent, 12%
IRB, 10%
Clinical Trials, 8%
Data Collection, 8%
FDA, 6%

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Clinical Research Scientist
Clinical Research Scientist vs Clinical Researcher

Updated January 8, 2025

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