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Bioinformatics Scientist

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AVG. SALARY

$75,570

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EDUCATION

Bachelor's degree

What They Do

About This Career

Conducts research using bioinformatics theory and methods in areas such as pharmaceuticals, medical technology, biotechnology, computational biology, proteomics, computer information science, biology and medical informatics. May design databases and develop algorithms for processing and analyzing genomic information, or other biological information.

This career is part of the Information Technology cluster Information Support and Services pathway.

A person in this career:

  • Develops new software applications or customizes existing applications to meet specific scientific project needs.
  • Communicates research results through conference presentations, scientific publications, or project reports.
  • Creates novel computational approaches and analytical tools as required by research goals.
  • Consults with researchers to analyze problems, recommend technology-based solutions, or determine computational strategies.
  • Analyzes large molecular datasets, such as raw microarray data, genomic sequence data, or proteomics data, for clinical or basic research purposes.
  • Keeps abreast of new biochemistries, instrumentation, or software by reading scientific literature and attending professional conferences.
  • Develops data models and databases.
  • Compiles data for use in activities, such as gene expression profiling, genome annotation, or structural bioinformatics.
  • Designs and applies bioinformatics algorithms including unsupervised and supervised machine learning, dynamic programming, or graphic algorithms.
  • Manipulates publicly accessible, commercial, or proprietary genomic, proteomic, or post-genomic databases.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

  • You would sit most of the time. There's some walking and standing. You may have to lift and carry things like books, papers or tools weighing 10 lbs. or less.
  • Work in this occupation requires being inside most of the time
  • Work in this occupation involves sitting more than one-third of the time

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

  • Seeing clearly at a distance
  • Seeing clearly up close
  • Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
  • Identifying and understanding the speech of another person

Work Hours and Travel

  • Regular working hours and limited travel

Specialty and Similar Careers

Careers that are more detailed or close to this career:

  • Bioinformaticist
  • Research Scientist
  • Scientific Database Curator — Collects, annotates and validates scientific information in a database.
  • Research Associate
  • Scientist