SOLICITATION NOTICE
A -- Early Markers of Alzeheimer’s Disease in BLSA Participants: Structural and Functional Brain Changes
- Notice Date
- 3/13/2012
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 541712
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Mental Health, Contracts Management Branch, 6001 Executive Blvd, Rm 8154, MSC 9661, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892-9661
- ZIP Code
- 20892-9661
- Solicitation Number
- HHS-NIH-NIDA(AG)-RFP-11-160
- Archive Date
- 4/12/2012
- Point of Contact
- Tawanda Haynes- Brown, Phone: 301-443-6162, Yvette Brown, Phone: 301 443-2696
- E-Mail Address
-
haynest@nida.nih.gov, Yvette.Brown@nih.gov
(haynest@nida.nih.gov, Yvette.Brown@nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- PRESOLICITATION NOTICE HHS-NIH-NIDA (AG)-RFP-11-160 The National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute on Aging (NIA), intends to negotiate, under authority of FAR 6.302-1, on a noncompetitive, sole source basis, with Johns Hopkins University for the project entitled, "Early Markers of Alzeheimer's Disease in BLSA Participants: Structural and Functional Brain Changes". This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. However, responsible sources may express their interest by submitting a capability statement or proposal. All capability statement/proposals received within fifteen days after date of publication of this synopsis will be considered by the Government. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. This effort will be for an eighteen month performance period. The Early Markers of Alzheimer's Disease in BLSA Participants: Structural and Functional Brain Changes is in accordance with the authority 41 U.S.C. 253(c) (1), as set forth in FAR 6.302-1(a) (2) (ii). Presently, The Johns Hopkins University has provided all the services required to make this contract fully functional. The required contract demands a state-of-the-art volumetric MR and PET-CBF imaging and image processing facilities, including image registration, tissue classification, stereotaxic transformation, regional and voxel-based analysis, as well as network analysis. The Contractor must also have the capability to produce short-lived radiopharmaceuticals, including PET 15O-water and 11C- PiB, which require an on-site cyclotron facility. Lastly, some aspects of the software will remain property of the Contractor and/or subcontractor. For these reasons, all of the existing data cannot be transferred to a new Contractor and this requirement can only be satisfied by one responsible source. If another contractor were to be awarded this contract, the entire technological infrastructure, including 17 years of Neuroimaging evaluations of BLSA participants, acquired only through this proposed contract, would need to be reproduced from scratch and developed at a cost of approximately $40 million dollars (due to collecting data and designing software). Further, award to another contractor in another geographic location would require a new sample of participants who would have to be followed from the age of 50 to ages from 70-90 years (representing a delay of 20-to 40 years). BACKGROUND: The BLSA was initiated in 1958 and is a multi-disciplinary study of physiologic and psychologic aspects of normal aging in community-dwelling men and women. Active BLSA participants are volunteers who visit the Clinical Unit of the NIA-IRP in Baltimore, Maryland for testing every 1 to 4 years. Since 1994, we have been conducting a longitudinal brain imaging study of selected older adults in the BLSA to characterize individual differences in longitudinal brain changes, investigate the extent to which these brain changes underlie individual differences in cognitive aging, identify brain changes that may be predictors of cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease, and assess the impact of potential modulators of brain and cognitive aging. As of August 5, 2011, 1486 neuroimaging evaluations, including 210 PET-PiB scans, have been performed. As part of this research program, it has also been necessary to develop and validate sophisticated tools for analysis of longitudinal neuroimaging data that can be applied in large-scale studies. More than 150 publications have resulted from the work of the initial phases of this project. Although image acquisition techniques have been refined over the initial contract period, the challenges and expense to conducting and quantifying longitudinal imaging data remain. While recent studies indicate that structural and functional longitudinal changes in specific temporal lobe regions predict cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease, data based on the prior contract have shown that using networks of information throughout the brain provide greater sensitivity and specificity to predict who is likely to develop cognitive impairment and dementia and who is likely to remain healthy. BLSA imaging and autopsy studies also show that about 30% of individuals with considerable pathology in their brains remain healthy. Thus, a gap remains in our understanding of the temporal sequence of brain and cognitive changes in healthy aging and disease. The proposed contract will continue to fill this gap in our knowledge about the neuroanatomic and neurophysiologic underpinnings of cognitive and other functional changes and their temporal sequence in aging men and women by maximizing the number of repeated assessments with more recently introduced PET measures of brain amyloid deposition. In addition to continued analysis of volumetric MRI studies of brain aging, this contract will continue to perform in vivo measurement of vascular changes and amyloid deposition through continued acquisition of PET CBF scans and PET amyloid imaging using 11C PiB. Recent evidence indicates possible synergistic effects of vascular changes and Alzheimer's pathology on the development of dementia. As approximately half of the current sample aged 55 and older is enrolled in the BLSA autopsy program, in vivo imaging changes will continue to be validated against neuropathological findings. The proposed contract will also include analysis of more recently acquired BLSA MR scans, including younger individuals, collected at the NIA 3T facility to provide information on structural brain changes throughout the adult lifespan. Through the use of the existing physical and psychological data for BLSA participants, this project will provide unique insights into our understanding of predictors and the temporal sequence of individual differences in the rate of neuroanatomic, neurophysiologic and cognitive aging. OBJECTIVE(S): The objectives of this contract are to: 1) continue services currently being performed by the Johns Hopkins University under Contract HHSN263200400012C; 2) Analysis neuroimaging scans of selected participants in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA); 3) Contacting and scheduling the BLSA neuroimaging study participants; and 4) Administer and monitor procedures during PET imaging and scans. PROJECT REQUIREMENTS: The primary tasks for this acquisition include: A) Scheduling and Contacting Subjects; B) Conducting brief Medical Evaluations; C) Image Acquisition and Quantification Procedures; D) Neuropsychological Testing; and E) Collecting Data. REPORTS/DELIVERABLES: The following reports will be required: A) Project Plan; B) Semi-Annual Progress Report; C) Annual Reports; D) Final Report; and E) Electronic transmission of data OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION: 1. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code will be 541712. 2. This proposed acquisition was previously publicized under sources sought notices HHSNIHNIDA(AG)-RDSS-11-160 and HHSNIHNIDA(AG)-SBSS-11-160. 3. The estimated contract award date will be on or about September 28, 2012. Primary Point of Contact: Ms. Tawanda Haynes-Brown Contract Specialist Phone - 3014436162 Email - haynest@nida.nih.gov Secondary Point of Contact: Ms. Yvette Brown Contracting Officer Phone - 3014432696 Email - ybrown@mail.nih.gov
- Web Link
-
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- Record
- SN02695281-W 20120315/120313235350-f11b54c3cffd5fa6434f7b19043d10bb (fbodaily.com)
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