Planning and Analysis
Infectious Disease Scientist
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
Performs scientific research with the aim of discovering new solutions or improving existing ones within the fields of infection sciences such as clinical microbiology, immunology, parasitology, and virology. Plans and conducts laboratory experiments, evaluates the results, develops new experiments, performs routine testing procedures, and summarizes findings in reports.
Job Outlook
There were 304 Infectious Disease Scientist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 10216 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Medical Scientist industry, which includes the Infectious Disease Scientist career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2012:
Salary
Many new Infectious Disease Scientist jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $67,440.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $63,774.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Infectious Disease Scientist postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $52,510.
Education and Experience
Posted Infectious Disease Scientist jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 55% |
| Master's Degree | 28% |
| Doctoral Degree | 16% |
| Other | 1% |
Posted Infectious Disease Scientist jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 49% |
| 3 to 5 years | 35% |
| 6 to 8 years | 10% |
| 9+ years | 6% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Infectious Disease Scientist positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Research (46%)
- Communication Skills (35%)
- Teamwork / Collaboration (29%)
- Troubleshooting (19%)
- Writing (16%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Vaccination (43%)
- Vaccines (40%)
- Quality Assurance and Control (29%)
- Infectious Disease (17%)
- Microbiology (17%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Chemistry (18%)
- Infection Control (17%)
- Experiments (16%)
- Medical Technology (16%)
- Laboratory Testing (14%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Clinical Trials (7%)
- Cell Culturing (6%)
- Virology (4%)
- Flow Cytometry (4%)
- Epidemiology (3%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed along with the marginal value: the average salary difference between postings that request that skill and those that do not.
- Biomarkers (2%) – marginal value $9,754
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Infectious Disease Scientist skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Clinical Laboratory Scientist
- Medical Laboratory Scientist
- Senior Research Scientist
- Associate Scientist
- Med Laboratory Scientist
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Biomedical Scientist
- Medical Laboratory Scientist
- Medical Research Scientist
- Medical Research Specialist
- Pharmacology Research Scientist
- Cell Biologist
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Infectious Disease Scientist jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Pfizer (266)
- Merck & Company (180)
- GAF Materials Corporation (168)
- Humana (146)
- Sanofi Aventis (144)
North Carolina
- Duke University (80)
- Sanford School Of Public Policy (21)
- Duke Global Health Institute (19)
- Mission Hospitals (16)
- Pratt School Of Engineering (8)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from EMSI Burning Glass (now Lightcast). For more information about how they gather data and what it represents, see Emsi Burning Glass Data Basic Overview.