Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Hunting emerging viruses through participatory community science

Nature Microbiology volume 9, pages 578–581 (2024)Cite this article

Subjects

A participatory research initiative generates actionable data on avian diseases in New York City, showcases how a community-based approach can tackle misinformation, and actively engages students from historically underrepresented communities in science, technology, engineering and maths.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: BioBus is a mobile laboratory.

Andy Cribb / Cribb Visuals

Fig. 2: A mobile laboratory inside a customized Airstream trailer.

Andy Cribb / Cribb Visuals

References

  1. Tai, D. B. G., Sia, I. G., Doubeni, C. A. & Wieland, M. L. J. Racial Ethn. Health Disparities 9, 2334–2339 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Krammer, F. & Schultz-Cherry, S. Nat. Rev. Immunol. 23, 267–268 (2023).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Tan, Y.-R. et al. BMJ Glob. Health 7, e009389 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Francisco, I. et al. Microbiol. Spectr. 10, e0206121 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Science and Engineering Indicators: The State of U.S. Science and Engineering 2022 (National Science Board, National Science Foundation, 2022); https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsb20221

  6. Martin, A. E. & Fisher‐Ari, T. R. Sci. Educ. 105, 1076–1099 (2021).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Booker, A. in Seeing The HiddEn Minority: Increasing the Talent Pool through Identity, Socialization, and Mentoring Constructs (eds Tyler, A. L. et al.) 133–147 (Information Age, 2020).

  8. Linn, M. C., Palmer, E., Baranger, A., Gerard, E. & Stone, E. Science 347, 1261757 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Carlone, H. B. & Johnson, A. J. Res. Sci. Teach. 44, 1187–1218 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Gee, J. P. Rev. Res. Educ. 25, 99–125 (2000).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank P. Kehinde Ajayi of BioBus and all our collaborators, especially P. S. Meade, F. Krammer and R. A. Albrecht of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, R. McMahon of Wild Bird Fund, and S. Slavinsky of New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. We thank the Flu Lab, the Richard Lounsbery Foundation, P. Palese and anonymous Mount Sinai donors for generously funding the New York City Virus Hunters pilot. Collaborative community science activities for NYCVH will be further supported by a new five-year Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), under Award Number R25GM150146. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. BioBus, New York, NY, USA

    Christine Marizzi & Latasha Wright

  2. Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Christine Marizzi

Authors
  1. Christine Marizzi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Latasha Wright
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christine Marizzi.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Marizzi, C., Wright, L. Hunting emerging viruses through participatory community science. Nat Microbiol 9, 578–581 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-024-01604-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-024-01604-1

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing