In this episode of Survey & Beyond: The Data Collection Podcast, host Marta Costa sits down with Simon Birk, Co-founder, President, and COO of Health in Your Hands Diagnostics, to discuss how his nonprofit is tackling schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease affecting millions in endemic regions, through SCOPE (Schistosomiasis Control from the One Health Perspective), a project that integrates affordable diagnostics, community education, and environmental mapping in rural Nigeria.

Simon Birk is the Co-founder, President, and COO of Health in Your Hands Diagnostics, a nonprofit he launched in 2025 to close gaps in global health through affordable, community-centered diagnostics. A fourth-year medical student at McGovern Medical School, Simon leads SCOPE (Schistosomiasis Control from the One Health Perspective), a project in rural Nigeria that combines a $2 Foldscope-based diagnostic workflow, drone imagery for environmental mapping, and educational programming for children. Working with FUNAAB, the Federal Medical Center of Abeokuta, and the Ogun State Ministry of Health, his team completed a pilot that achieved 92.1% diagnostic accuracy and is now scaling to an eleven-month longitudinal study across twelve communities. Simon is a strong advocate for community health workers and for embedding local expertise at every stage of global health research.

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