SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- Agricultural Health Study (AHS) Phase IV
- Notice Date
- 12/2/2010
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Office of Acquisitions, 6120 Executive Blvd., EPS Suite 600, Rockville, Maryland, 20852
- ZIP Code
- 20852
- Solicitation Number
- N02-SBSS-CP-11007
- Archive Date
- 1/1/2011
- Point of Contact
- Seena Mathews, Phone: 3014353814
- E-Mail Address
-
mathewss@mail.nih.gov
(mathewss@mail.nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice. This requirement is assigned a code of 541990 in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), and the size standard for such requirements is $7 million. The National Cancer Institute (NCI), Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, in conjunction with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences is anticipating releasing a new solicitation for a single award of Phase IV of the Agricultural Health Study (AHS). In the Phase IV contract, the contractor will be responsible for overall coordination and day-to-day management of the study; maintaining and updating a secure data base containing all study research and administrative records; provide liaison with appropriate state and federal offices necessary to conduct this research; appropriately communicate research findings to the cohort through a website and annual newsletter; and to collect specified biospecimens from selected study subjects. In Phase IV of the AHS, one contractor will perform all study related activities as there will be no cohort-wide interview conducted as part of this contract. The coordinating center will continue to be responsible for day-to-day study operations, managing and maintaining study data files, and coordinating National Advisory Panel meetings. In addition, the coordinating center will now assume responsibility for maintaining and securing the personal identifying information for cohort members; conducting annual linkages to the state cancer registries, state and federal mortality files, IRS address data bases; and facilitating add-on studies. New responsibilities under this contract will be the conduct of the Biomarker Study which will involve the collection of blood and urine samples from a subset of the cohort (approximate n=1,300) and creating a restricted access portal for all federal partners to document contract expenditures. The AHS cohort consists of approximately 52,000 private pesticide applicators (primarily farmers) and 32,000 spouses of private applicators from Iowa and North Carolina, as well as approximately 5,000 commercial pesticide applicators from Iowa. The pesticide applicators were recruited between 1993-1997, during Phase I of the AHS, when they obtained their license to apply restricted use pesticides; spouses were recruited largely by questionnaires brought home by the pesticide applicator. In addition to the extensive information on lifetime use of pesticides, demographic and other lifestyle factors were collected from all participants at enrollment using self-administered questionnaires (during Phase I of the AHS). Two follow-up telephone interviews have been conducted since enrollment. The first follow-up interview was conducted from 1999 to 2003 (during Phase II of AHS), and the second follow-up interview was conducted from 2005-2009 (during Phase III of the AHS). Cancer incidence has been ascertained by annual linkage to the cancer registries in each state and mortality through linkage to the National Death Index since the inception of the study field work in 1993. The AHS began field work for Phase I of the study with three contracts in 1993. One contract was for a coordinating center which was primarily responsible for overall coordination of the study, developing questionnaires, and providing a secure computer system to store the vast amount of questionnaire and other research data coming from the field stations in Iowa and North Carolina. The other two contracts were for a field station in Iowa and a second field station in North Carolina. Field Stations were primarily responsible for managing the distribution and retrieval of self-administered questionnaires to eligible study subjects. The coordinating center contract was awarded, via a full and open competition, to SRA Technologies for Phase II of the study and to Westat Inc. for Phase III of the study. Westat assumed the coordinating center contract during Phase II when SRA Technologies went out of business. The field station contracts were awarded via a full and open competition to the University of Iowa and Battelle Memorial Institute. To be deemed capable of providing the current need for the study the offeror must submit a written capability statement. Organizations that submit capability statements in response to this notice will be evaluated against the following technical areas of experience and expertise: 1. Personnel/Experience: a) Experience managing a diverse group of professionals including, epidemiologists, database managers and analysts, and administrative and budgetary personnel b) Experience in translating scientific reports into newsletters using lay language. c) Experience conducting large field studies, biospecimen collection, interaction with advisory panels, maintaining quality and cost control d) Experience working with multi-agency studies. e) The offeror shall provide the name of the principal investigator, his/her professional qualifications and specific experience as a key investigator in large studies similar to the current study. f) The offeror shall provide the name of the systems analyst or computer professional, his/her professional qualifications and specific experience in working with large databases. g) The offeror shall demonstrate that the proposed investigation team and staff have previous experience in maintaining large and complex computer databases and carrying out the requirements of the study. The maintenance of these databases shall be in full compliance with National Institutes of Health (NIH) computer security requirements. 2. Facilities: The offeror shall have the necessary dedicated office space and accommodations to fulfill the requirements. Facilities should be available for assembly, shipping, receipt, and inventory of biospecimen kits and samples. The facilities need to have protected computer services that are in full compliance with NIH computer security requirements. The location of the facility should have the ability to have face-to-face meeting with the COTR at NCI and the contractor facility. 3. Technical: a) Trace subjects for personal identifying information, and secure this information to protect confidentiality of cohort. b) Obtain data from various disease registries and databases and link these data to cohort. c) Provide computer personnel and computer hardware and software to update and maintain computer databases and web-based systems. d) Data management, create analytic datasets, and implement quality control measures to assure high quality data. e) Ensure that computer systems comply with government security regulations. f) Assist and facilitate preparation and completion of various forms and reports. g) Communicate with cohort participants and stake holders including developing newsletters, updating websites, and responding to inquiries on a toll-free number. Ability to communicate with hearing impaired participants. h) Conduct administrative activities, including arranging conference calls and meetings; including a National Advisory Panel meeting. i) Provide consultant with pesticide expertise, including chemical classification, formulation, use, and toxicity. k) Collect, handle and transport biological specimens (e.g., buccal, saliva) under isolated field conditions expected in rural Iowa and North Carolina. Samples must be kept under temperature control. l) Access the cancer registries of North Carolina and Iowa, and National Death Index, and other registries specified in the Statement of Work. If any responsible source believes it can perform the requirements they may submit three (3) hard copies of their capability statements (20 Page Limit, these pages exclude resumes) for consideration by NCI to Seena Mathews, Contracting Officer, at the mailing and e-mail address provided by the response date. No collect calls or facsimile transmissions will be accepted. Respondents may submit their capability statements via email (PDF format) in addition to 3 hard copies. Respondents must include DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, and size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HUBZONE, etc) pursuant to the applicable NAICS code. Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation(s). Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation.
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