Join the AZ HEROES Study

If you’re interested in enrolling in the AZ HEROES Study, you can complete the Screening Form and a study team member will contact you if you are eligible. You can also contact us at 520-848-4026 or email us at AZHeroes@arizona.edu and a staff member will determine your eligibility.

Screening Form

The AZ HEROES study will include participants from the following groups that cannot socially distance to do their jobs.

This includes from the following occupational groups:

  • Health care workers 
  • First responders (firefighters, other emergency medical services (EMS) personnel, law enforcement officers and corrections (such as prison and jail) officers and other personnel) 
  • Food service: grocery store workers, agriculture workers, food prep and service (delivery, table, etc.) 
  • Public and other transportation services (bus, taxi, Uber/Lyft etc.) 
  • Solid waste collectors 
  • Warehouse and delivery workers 
  • Utilities (energy, water and wastewater workers) 
  • Construction & maintenance workers
  • Government and community-based services 
  • Childcare workers 
  • Group homes/day programs; disability programs 
  • IT professionals 
  • Environmental Services, Facilities Managers 
  • Educators (P-20) 
  • Front-line financial workers (bank tellers, etc.) 
  • Hospitality (hotel, etc.) workers 
Photo of lab

Inclusion Criteria 

  • You can participate in AZ HEROES if you are at least 18 years old and not more than 85 years old 
  • Meet one of these requirements:
    ----- Work at least 20 hours per week in healthcare, as a first responder, frontline/essential worker (retail, hospitality, community services, construction, etc.) OR
    ----- Part-time college student (at least 6 units) and work at least 10 hours per week
  • Participants must have smartphone access or internet access 
  • All participants must have a mailing address and plan to reside in Arizona for 12 months following enrollment 

Exclusion Criteria 

  • Have received the COVID-19 Vaccine
  • Unwilling to provide verbal and/or electronic confirmation of consent 
  • Unwilling to self-report occupation, work responsibilities, and prior COVID-19 illness 
  • Unable to conduct study activities in English or Spanish 

All study participants will undergo weekly surveillance and self-collect a respiratory sample for COVID-19, via nasal swab, throughout the duration of the study. This testing is needed to detect when study participants are infected with COVID-19. This applies to both participants that have been infected with COVID-19 prior to the study and participants who are newly infected with COVID-19.  

All study participants will also be tested for antibodies to COVID-19 at three points in the study, once upon entering and twice at later points within a nine-month period, via blood & serum samples. The reason for this is to understand the length of time for the antibody response to COVID-19. Participants who have tested positive, via nasal swab, with new COVID-19 infection will be tested for antibodies again.   

AZ HEROES is working in coordination with the statewide AZ COVID-19 Antibody Testing Initiative (ATI) conducted by the University of Arizona. The ATI is funded by the State of Arizona to provide COVID-19 serological testing of up to 250,000 Arizonans, including healthcare care personnel, first responders and essential workers statewide. If you are interested in the Antibody Testing Initiative, visit https://covid19antibodytesting.arizona.edu