SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT FOR CHERNOBYL PROJECTS: THYROID SCREENING FOLLOW-UP AND LEUKEMIA/THYROID CANCER IN CLEAN-UP WORKERS IN UKRAINE
- Notice Date
- 1/17/2014
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541611
— Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Office of Acquisitions, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Room 1E128, Rockville, Maryland, 20852, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20852
- Solicitation Number
- SBSS-N02CPP4509-85
- Archive Date
- 2/18/2014
- Point of Contact
- Terry Galloway, Phone: 240-276-5384, Seena Ninan, Phone: 240-276-5419
- E-Mail Address
-
gallowaytl@mail.nih.gov, ninans@mail.nih.gov
(gallowaytl@mail.nih.gov, ninans@mail.nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This Small Business Sources Sought Notice (SBSS) is for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The purpose of this Sources Sought Notice is to identify qualified small business concerns including 8(a), HUBZone or Service-Disabled Veteran-owned business concerns that are interested in and capable of performing the work described herein. The NCI does not intend to award a contract on the basis of responses received nor otherwise pay for the preparation of any information submitted. 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 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 541611 with a size standard of $14 million. As a result of this Sources Sought Notice, the NCI may issue a Request for Quotation (RFQ) through FedBizOpps. THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME. However, should such a requirement materialize, no basis for claims against NCI shall arise as a result of a response to this Sources Sought Notice or the NCI's use of such information as either part of our evaluation process or in developing specifications for any subsequent requirement. The objective of this procurement is to obtain support services to provide technical and financial management oversight for three NCI supported projects in Ukraine: follow-up for thyroid cancer and related activities in individuals exposed to radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl accident; field work for the case-control study of thyroid cancer in Chernobyl clean-up workers; and data collection for the case-control study of leukemia. The Chernobyl Research Unit (CRU), Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, sponsors joint U.S.-Ukraine studies of health effects of the Chernobyl Accident. Currently, there are two partnership agreements supporting three collaborative U.S.-Ukraine epidemiological projects in Ukraine. These projects are 1) "Thyroid Cancer and Other Thyroid Diseases in Ukraine Following the Chernobyl Accident" (P004) undertaken at the Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism (IEM), Kiev; 2) "Leukemia and Other Hematologic Diseases Among Clean-up Workers in Ukraine Following the Chernobyl Accident" (P003) at the Research Center for Radiation Medicine (RCRM), Kiev; and 3) "Thyroid Cancer among Chernobyl Cleanup Workers in Ukraine" (P003A) undertaken as a variation of the project name, "Leukemia and Other Hematologic Diseases Among Clean-up Workers in Ukraine Following the Chernobyl Accident" (see below) also at RCRM. The partnership agreement for "Thyroid Cancer and Other Thyroid Diseases in Ukraine Following the Chernobyl Accident" (P004) involves thyroid screening and other related tasks in a cohort of about 13,000 people who were exposed to post-Chernobyl radioactive fallout under age 20 years. The aim of this project is to assess early and late morphologic and functional changes in the thyroid glands of persons exposed at young ages to radiation from radioactive materials released as a consequence of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. The cohort members have been undergoing diagnostic thyroid examinations since 1998. Under a rigid protocol approved by NCI, IEM staff carries out the field work to maintain contact with the cohort members and invite them to diagnostic thyroid examinations, which may include palpation, ultrasound scanning, thyroid hormone and other laboratory tests. These examinations are done at IEM or by a mobile team. If deemed necessary by the protocol, cohort members are referred to an expert endocrinologist at IEM for a fine-needle aspiration biopsy for diagnostic confirmation. Interview information collected by IEM regarding residential, health, diet and lifestyle history has been used for estimating radiation doses by an international expert group involving NCI. Follow-up is also performed on all subjects for thyroid cancer morbidity and mortality through linkage with the national cancer registry in Ukraine. The IEM is responsible for the tracing of cohort subjects, recording medical and other data, data processing, and database management and organizing analytical data for NCI. IEM collects fresh and/or archived samples for study by NCI genetic and genomic investigations. IEM also provides data management and quality control, services needed for radiation dose reconstruction to be undertaken by NCI and other dosimetry experts, and assist data analysis and manuscript preparations for NCI. The partnership project agreement for "Leukemia and Other Hematologic Diseases among Clean-up Workers in Ukraine Following the Chernobyl Accident" (P003) involves a case-control study of leukemia among clean-up workers carried out by RCRM staff. The objective of this study is to assess the risk of leukemia and other hematological cancers related to radiation exposure that the clean-up workers received during the recovery and clean-up operations after the accident. Data collection undertaken by RCRM is nearly completed, and major study results showing a significant risk of leukemia associated with radiation exposure have been published. The RCRM continues to provide additional data and/or biological samples for analyses performed by NCI. Recently, an amendment has been made to the above agreement with RCRM to add a case-control study of thyroid cancer in the same clean-up worker population, "Thyroid Cancer among Chernobyl Cleanup Workers in Ukraine" (P003A). Under the protocol approved by NCI, RCRM staff conducts field work to identify cases with thyroid cancer and non-cancer controls, interview them for radiation exposure information, and collect saliva samples for future genetic studies. In addition, under the protocol approved by NCI, RCRM acquire and store archival thyroid tumor tissues and other biological samples for NCI genetic research ("Tissue Archiving"). The RCRM also provides data management and quality control, services needed for radiation dose reconstruction to be undertaken by NCI and other dosimetry experts, and assist data analysis and manuscript preparations for NCI. In all three projects, NCI investigators are responsible for study design and methodologies while the contractor shall provide technical and financial management for the projects in Ukraine. Scope of Work The Contractor shall perform the following: 1. Work with Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism (IEM) and Research Center for Radiation Medicine (RCRM) to develop a draft agreement for each project (P003, P003A and P004) to become effective March 20, 2014 through September 19, 2014, if none of the Options are exercised, or March 19, 2016, if any of the Options are exercised, describing the scope of the project that includes the project objectives, work plan, personnel plan, budget lines, and reports and deliverables (technical and financial) to be submitted to NCI. 2. Submit the draft agreement to NCI for approval; and after approval, formalize the agreement with IEM and RCRM. 3. Manage the project as described in the agreement, including evaluation and verification of the progress of project activities, equipment, information, data systems, materials, supplies, personnel and services, auditing the costs, if deemed necessary. 4. Report to NCI if there are any significant managerial issues or problems, and provide advice in resolving them. 5. Assist NCI, IEM and/or RCRM to formalize an amended agreement, if needed. 6. Provide customs clearance assistance in purchasing duty-free equipment and materials as approved by NCI. Period of Performance Base (Thyroid screening; thyroid cancer in cleanup workers.): March 20, 2014-March 19, 2015 Optional Tasks 1a (Thyroid genomic): March 20, 2014-March 19, 2015 Optional Tasks 1b (Tissue archiving in clean-up workers): March 20, 2014-March 19, 2015 Optional Tasks 1c (Trio tissues): March 20, 2014-March 19, 2015 Optional Tasks 1d (Dosimetry): March 20, 2014-March 19, 2015 Option Period One: Option Period One (Thyroid screening/follow-up. $110,000): March 20, 2015-March 19, 2016 Optional Tasks 2b (Thyroid genome. $50,000): March 20, 2015-March 19, 2016 Optional Tasks 2c (Thyroid cancer in clean-up workers. $300,000): March 20, 2015-March 19, 2016 Optional Tasks 2d (Tissue archiving in clean-up workers. $50,000): March 20, 2015-March 19, 2016 Optional Tasks 2e (Trio tissues. $50,000): March 20, 2015-March 19, 2016 Optional Tasks 2f (Dosimetry. $20,000): March 20, 2015-March 19, 2016 Qualifications The contractor shall: 1. Be capable of providing on-site managerial oversight to the three ongoing NCI support post-Chernobyl projects, described above; 2. Have close knowledge and on-site experience of all technical and financial aspects of the above three projects; 3. Have demonstrated experience in managing and administering projects funded by US government agencies; 4. Have multilingual staff who are capable of communicating in English, Ukrainian, and Russian; 5. Have demonstrated experience of successfully establishing research projects funded by US government agencies, as described in this procurement, negotiating with medical institutions, national and/or local governments in Ukraine; How to Submit a Response: 1. Page Limitations: Interested qualified small business organizations should submit a tailored capability statement for this requirement not to exceed 10 single sided pages including all attachments, resumes, charts, etc. (single spaced, 12 point font minimum) that clearly details the ability to perform the requirements of the notice described above. All proprietary information should be marked as such. Responses should include a minimum of a two pages demonstrating experience over the past two years meeting the requirements of this notice. Statements should also include an indication of current certified small business status; this indication should be clearly marked on the first page of your capability statement (preferable placed under the eligible small business concern's name and address). Responses will be reviewed only by NIH personnel and will be held in a confidential manner. 2. Due Date: Capability statements are due no later than 11:00 a.m. EST on Februrary 3, 2014. 3. Delivery Point: All information furnished must be in writing and must contain sufficient detail to allow the NCI to determine if it can meet the unique specifications described herein. Written responses can be emailed to Terry Galloway, Contract Specialist at gallowaytl@mail.nih.gov or mailed to the address located under Point of Contact. All questions must be in writing and can be faxed to (240) 276-5401 or emailed. A determination by the Government not to compete this requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. In order to receive an award, contractors must have valid registration and certification in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) and the Online Representations and Certifications Applications (ORCA) thru sam.gov. No collect calls will be accepted. Please reference number SBSS-N02CPP4509-85 on all correspondence. 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, an RFQ may be published on FedBizOpps. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation(s).
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