If you could model the “type” of disease that best fits for this crowd sourced approach, what would it be? For instance, this likely wouldn’t work for researching a rare disease, correct?
Asked by Anonymous
Any disease which can be self-reported could be a candidate for crowdsourcing. For example, the National Databank of Rheumatic diseases https://www.arthritis-research.org/ crowdsources their enrollment and follow up on a variety of rheumatic diseases, some of which are uncommon. They are able to gather valuable self-reported function and quality of life information through longitudinal surveys. An online portal makes good sense for rare diseases which don't have an established national network. The National Organization of Rare diseases https://rarediseases.org/ uses crowdsourced portals for rare disease registries. Jonathan Haidt has done fascinating and valuable psychological research through ongoing crowdsourced surveys such as https://www.yourmorals.org/. The potential of crowdsourcing medical research is just beginning to be tapped.
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