Epidemiologist: Patient Population Sizing

What you'll do

The epidemiology lens in a four-part pilot from a biotech and pharma research team building expert evaluation of how AI analyses commercial drugs and development programs. Commercial analysis of a drug depends on its patient count, and your job is to decide whether that count holds up.

For each drug and indication in the pilot set you will:

• Size the patient population: prevalence and incidence, then the funnel from diagnosed to treated to addressable
• Judge whether a population estimate is sound and well sourced, and flag over- or under-counting
• Create and critique rubrics that encode that judgment, so AI analysis of the same indications can be graded

Population sizing is where AI-generated analysis often looks most confident and is least checkable: a prevalence figure from one country applied to another, a diagnosed rate that assumes without saying so that everyone is treated, or double counting across overlapping subtypes. (The ad does not list these; they are the kinds of errors a funnel review exists to catch.)

Who fits

• A US-based epidemiologist
• 5+ years practising epidemiology, with a graduate degree in epidemiology, biostatistics or public health
• Experience turning real-world data (claims, EHR, registries) into patient funnels
• Familiarity with biotech and pharma development programs

As with its sister pilots, the requirements say US-based but the listing header reads "US-based or deep US-market experience", and the ad carries no formal location requirement. Epidemiologists abroad who work on US data should confirm eligibility before applying.

What it pays

$150–175 per hour. At 10–20 hours that is roughly $1,500–3,500 for the pilot. Payments are weekly on Stripe or Wise, as an independent contractor.

Among the four pilots from this team, this band sits below market access ($175–200) and the clinician ceiling ($230), and overlaps forecasting ($130–210).

Commitment

About 10–20 hours over one to two weeks, with recurring engagement for strong contributors.

Worth knowing

Good:

• Strong hourly rate for epidemiology, which rarely commands pharma-consulting pay
• Narrow $25 band, so the published figure means something
• Short and bounded, fits around a full-time role
• Real-world data skills are exactly what is asked for

Less good:

• Pilot-sized total income unless it continues
• Graduate degree required on top of 5 years' practice
• Location wording is inconsistent between header and requirements
• H-1B and STEM OPT candidates cannot be supported
• The research team is not named, and neither are the indications

About this listing

Posted by Mercor as a part-time remote pilot, confirmed open on 24 September 2026. The pay band, pilot duration and requirements are the ad's own. See Mercor.