Also called: Sports Drug Testing Scientist
Tests athletes' samples for banned drugs in accredited labs.
An anti-doping scientist runs urine and blood samples through mass spectrometers, looks for banned substances, and writes reports that can end careers. Results must be perfect because they may end up in court.
Approximate.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Doctorate (PhD), about 9 years after high school. A bachelor's in chemistry, then a PhD in analytical chemistry or a related field before working at a WADA-accredited testing lab.
Ways in: Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Chemistry.
Growing about average. Tiny.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. Automated mass spectrometers and AI flag suspicious samples; scientific judgment and legal defensibility stay human.
Classes: AP Chemistry, AP Biology, AP Statistics.
Official data: O*NET occupation 19-2031.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.