COVID-19 Research Study

The EPICC DoD Research Study has closed new online enrollment.

Active Duty & Non Active Duty

Study Highlights:

Eligibility

  • Have been tested or meet criteria for COVID-19 testing according to CDC guidelines
    OR
  • Received vaccine for COVID-19
    AND
  • ≥18 years of age
  • Active duty or Non Active Duty who can receive care in the MHS (DoD beneficiaries)
  • Active email address

Study Requirements

First Step:

  • Complete initial online consent form and questionnaire that includes medical history, any COVID-19 risk factors and symptoms. (approximately 20 minutes)
  • If selected, we may also ask you to collect a small blood sample at home (a few drops from your fingertip or arm) using a simple kit and instructions that we provide.

At 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 Months:

  • Complete online questionnaire (approximately 10 minutes)
  • Optional: If selected, we may also ask you to collect a small blood sample at home (a few drops from your fingertip or arm) using a simple kit and instructions that we provide you.

Compensation (Amazon Gift Code)

  • $10 per questionnaire completed
  • $10 per blood sample provided
  • A total of up to $120 combined
  • Compensation will be provided for your participation in accordance with DoDI 3216.02.

This Military Health System study will support improving current and future treatments of COVID-19 within the military population.

The pandemic of 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) started with the emergence of a new respiratory virus in the coronavirus family (called SARS-CoV-2). COVID-19 has caused a global public health emergency that has impacted the DoD. The Epidemiology, Immunology, and Clinical Characteristics of Emerging Infectious Diseases with Pandemic Potential or EPICC study aims to identify risk factors for COVID-19 in the military population, understand the symptoms and disease course, and investigate clinical outcomes.

Study Details:

A major goal of the EPICC study is to inform MHS clinical care and practice guidelines to improve clinical care and management of those with COVID-19. Another goal is to inform future disease prevention strategies. The EPICC broad questionnaire will help us understand the risk factors for infection, symptoms of infection, and how other health conditions may affect these. This information is critical to advance knowledge of how to protect ourselves from COVID-19 and improve risk assessments to know who may be at risk for severe disease. Additional laboratory-based studies will help understand the host immune response to infection and how these might affect risk of severe disease. Knowledge gained from the EPICC study will also be useful as future COVID-19 treatment and prevention trials are developed.
The USU Infectious Disease Clinical Research Program (IDCRP) is a chartered research center at USU that is working to reduce the impact of infectious diseases in the military population through collaborative partnership with a network of military commands, treatment facilities, and laboratories. The EPICC study is an important part of the IDCRP COVID-19 research portfolio.
This study is available to adult (≥18 years old) DoD active and non-active duty service members and beneficiaries who are eligible to receive care in the MHS and either meet criteria to be tested for COVID-19 or have received a vaccine for COVID-19.

Study Steps:

What is involved in this study?

Review the online informed consent information.

If you received an invitation from the study team, please use the unique participation link or code provided. This will direct you to the informed consent documentation.

Ensure you fully understand the study before electronically signing the informed consent. If you read the informed consent and decide that you don’t want to participate in the study, that’s OK. Please do not sign the consent form if you don’t want to participate.

Complete questionnaires about your medical history and relevant COVID-19 experiences.

The first questionnaire is information about you, your risk factors for COVID-19, previous testing for the infection, your health and medications, and any symptoms or treatments you may have had as a result of your illness. The rest of the questionnaires will be sent 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months from when you sign consent. This is a total of 6 questionnaires.

Provide blood samples using supplied self-collected tests kits.

If resources are available, you may be asked to complete self-collected blood test kits in the next few days and in 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months from now. The kit collects a small amount of blood from your finger or arm in a specialized device which you will then return to our lab for analysis. You can still participate in the study if you don’t want to do these blood tests.

Still interested?

Frequently Asked Questions:

  • No, this study does not qualify you for a mandatory COVID-19 vaccine exemption as this is an observational study, not a clinical trial.
  • The U.S. Secretary of Defense issued a memo on 24 August 2021 as it relates to mandatory COVID-19 vaccination. Within that memo it states that service members who are actively participating in COVID-19 clinical trials are exempt from mandatory vaccination against COVID-19 until the trial is complete. This study is a strictly observational study, there is no intervention, so it does not qualify as a clinical trial.
  • Names
  • Address
  • Date of Birth
  • Ages over 89 (can be grouped as 90 or older)
  • DoD identification number
  • Health information
  • Health plan beneficiary numbers
  • Phone numbers
  • Fax numbers
  • E-mail Address
  • Social security numbers
  • Medical record numbers
  • Institutional Review Board (USU IRB)
  • Infectious Disease Clinical Research Program (IDCRP)
  • Other Military Treatment Facilities or Department of Defense representatives
  • U.S. Coast Guard
  • Henry M. Jackson Foundation and their representatives
  • Neoteryx and their representatives
  • Orange County Direct Mail (for the purpose of shipping Mitra blood collection kits)
  • Local, State and Federal Government representatives, when required by law
  • Defense Health Agency (DHA)
  • Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
  • National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) and their representatives

You may change your mind and revoke (take back) your Authorization at any time. However, if you revoke this Authorization, any person listed above may still use or disclose any already obtained health information as necessary to maintain the integrity or reliability of this research.

  • If you revoke this Authorization, you may no longer be allowed to participate in the research study.
  • If you want to revoke your Authorization, you must write to the Study Doctor.
  • No publication or public presentation about the research described above will reveal your identity without another signed Authorization from you.
  • If all information that does or can identify you is removed from your health information, the remaining de-identified information will no longer be subject to this Authorization and may be used or disclosed for other purposes.
  • In the event your health information is disclosed to an organization that is not covered by HIPAA, the privacy of your health information cannot be guaranteed.

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