The Commentaries by McDade & Sancilio (2020), Jones, Hazel, & Almquist (2020) and Moya et al. (2020) showcase the methodological and analytical innovations that human biologists are making in advancing testing, diagnostics, and modelling the spread of the virus. Thom McDade & Amelia Sancilio (2020) discuss how the field‐based research approaches developed and used by human biologists can play a critical role in advancing community‐based COVID‐19 research. In particular, McDade et al.' (2020) recently‐developed technique for measuring SARS coronavirus‐2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) IgG antibodies in dried blood spot samples offers an important tool for assessing variation in the impact of the pandemic in diverse populations around the globe.