ASU COVID-19 Case Investigation Team

ASU epidemiologist Megan Jehn is leading multiple efforts to investigate and respond to the spread of COVID-19 in Arizona. Her team of trained case investigator students, volunteers, and staff is on the ground in Maricopa County tracking the novel coronavirus by investigating individual cases and assisting communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19. 

In March, 2020, the Student Outbreak Response Team (SORT) team quickly shifted from an on-campus program to a virtual call center and took on a new role as the ASU COVID-19 Case Investigation Team. The team then moved into action to help the Maricopa County Department of Public Health conduct case investigations of individuals impacted by COVID-19, providing support and safety guidance to community members, and interviewing cases about their symptoms and possible contacts. Since July 2020, the ASU COVID-19 Case Investigation Team has trained over 400 case investigators and completed over 70,000 case investigations.

Contact our team

Phone: 480-965-5608 or 480-618-3000
Email: asupublichealth@gmail.com

  Project Details

Case investigation helps the county learn more about the coronavirus and is the first step in contact tracing, an important public health tool that can help to limit the spread of COVID-19. Case investigators utilize communication skills, cultural humility and knowledge of COVID-19 to collect health data, provide education about safety, and elicit information about possible contacts of the case who may have been exposed to COVID-19. The COVID-19 Case Investigation Team includes a Case Investigation Unit and Community Response Unit.

Case Investigation Team: The case investigation unit works with the Maricopa County Department of Public Health to conduct COVID-19 public health case investigations for all newly diagnosed cases.

Community Response Team: The community response team operates as a field epidemiology unit, working with the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, the town of Guadalupe and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe in Arizona to conduct case investigations and provide support to communities that are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

Maricopa County Department of Public Health

  Research Team

  • Megan Jehn, School of Human Evolution and Social Change; Principal Investigator
  • Jennifer Jackman, Staff and Volunteer Manager
  • Jessica Wani, Operations Manager
  • Laura G. Meyer, Team Development 
  • Kimberly Prete, Case Management Lead
  • Tim Dennehy, Senior Research Analyst

  Funding

Maricopa County Department of Public Health (2020)