Medical research scientist vs staff scientist

The differences between medical research scientists and staff scientists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a medical research scientist and a staff scientist. Additionally, a staff scientist has an average salary of $93,941, which is higher than the $78,125 average annual salary of a medical research scientist.

The top three skills for a medical research scientist include PCR, research findings and GMP. The most important skills for a staff scientist are data analysis, research projects, and molecular biology.

Medical research scientist vs staff scientist overview

	Medical Research Scientist	Staff Scientist
Yearly salary	$78,125	$93,941
Hourly rate	$37.56	$45.16
Growth rate	17%	17%
Number of jobs	129,653	121,054
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	4	4

Medical research scientist vs staff scientist salary

Medical research scientists and staff scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Medical Research Scientist	Staff Scientist
Average salary	$78,125	$93,941
Salary range	Between $47,000 And $129,000	Between $63,000 And $137,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Redwood City, CA
Highest paying state	Rhode Island	California
Best paying company	Oak Ridge National Laboratory	Etsy
Best paying industry	Pharmaceutical	Technology

Differences between medical research scientist and staff scientist education

There are a few differences between a medical research scientist and a staff scientist in terms of educational background:

	Medical Research Scientist	Staff Scientist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common major	Biology	Chemistry
Most common college	University of Southern California	Duke University

Medical research scientist vs staff scientist demographics

Here are the differences between medical research scientists' and staff scientists' demographics:

	Medical Research Scientist	Staff Scientist
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 40.0% Female, 60.0%	Male, 67.8% Female, 32.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% Asian, 27.2% White, 52.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 26.5% White, 53.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between medical research scientist and staff scientist duties and responsibilities

Medical research scientist example responsibilities.

Manage sample inventory via in-house laboratory information management system (LIMS) and implement additional systems for sample and chemical organization.
Experience working in a GMP regulate environment.
Experience with``firefight"responses and working with FDA.
Mouse colony maintenance are paramount, mouse genotyping, data organization.
Evaluate total tissue proteins and serum responses by ELISA, fluorescent and clotting assays.
Design and execute experiments to test the anti-allergic effect of CMP against grass, tree and ragweed pollen allergies.

Staff scientist example responsibilities.

Lead efforts to replace a critical radioactive immunoassay with a non-radioactive format to measure clinical samples.
Manage clinical sample testing using MSD and ELISA in LIMS, including data review and approval using LIMS.
Assist in managing and maintenance of HPLC and Prep-HPLC systems to ensure maximum productivity for the process development group.
Manage pediatric dose development project, technology transfer project and alternate API supplier qualification project on budget and on schedule
Assist with RNA and DNA extractions from FFPE tissue and blood.
Supervise temps performing HPLC assays and validations during development and production campaigns under GMP conditions.

Medical research scientist vs staff scientist skills

Common medical research scientist skills

PCR, 21%
Research Findings, 20%
GMP, 17%
Genotyping, 15%
Elisa, 13%
Extraction, 7%

Common staff scientist skills

Data Analysis, 9%
Research Projects, 7%
Molecular Biology, 5%
Next-Generation Sequencing, 4%
Statistical Analysis, 4%
RNA, 4%

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Medical Research Scientist
Medical Research Scientist vs Staff Scientist

Updated January 8, 2025

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