SOURCES SOUGHT
A -- Framingham Heart Study
- Notice Date
- 3/20/2014
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- 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 Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Rockledge Dr. Bethesda, MD, Office of Acquisitions, 6701 Rockledge Dr RKL2/6100 MSC 7902, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892-7902
- ZIP Code
- 20892-7902
- Solicitation Number
- NHLBI-HV-15-01
- Archive Date
- 4/19/2014
- Point of Contact
- Erin Dwyer, Phone: 3014350343, Elizabeth Zoller, Phone: 301-435-0374
- E-Mail Address
-
Erin.dwyer@nih.gov, zollere@mail.nih.gov
(Erin.dwyer@nih.gov, zollere@mail.nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- The Division of Cardiovascular Sciences of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), is conducting a market survey to assess the availability and potential technical capability of small business firms to perform for the renewal of the program entitled "Framingham Heart Study". The applicable NAICS Code is 541712 and the size standard is 500 employees. It is anticipated that one award will be made in April 2015 for a period of five years. The Framingham Heart Study is a long-term multigenerational study that aims to identify genetic and environmental factors influencing the development of cardiovascular and other diseases. Examination of over 5,000 residents of Framingham, Massachusetts was initiated in 1948 (this cohort is hereafter referred to as the "Original" participants). About two decades later, the offspring of the Original participants were recruited into the study (hereafter referred to as "Offspring" and including the new offspring spouses). This was followed about three decades later by the third generation of original Framingham participants (hereafter referred to as "Generation 3"). In 2009, two minority cohorts (Omni Groups 1 and 2), which had been initiated by study investigators and funded by NIH grants, were integrated into the Framingham contract. The designs and timing of the Omni Groups 1 and 2 examinations match those of the Offspring and Generation 3 cohorts, respectively. Except for the Original cohort, each cohort has recently undergone repeat examinations every 6 years. The overall objective of this renewal is to continue the Framingham Heart Study as a scientific resource for the research community to expand knowledge about the determinants of health and diseases in heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders. In particular, this contract will support: 1) follow-up of study participants (anticipated total sample size ~ 8,120) for clinical events, and 2) the core study operations, including maintaining the study's rich repository of data and biospecimens for use in ancillary studies (i.e., studies that are funded outside of the contract with NHLBI). A limited clinical examination of the Generation 3 and Omni Group 2 cohorts will be included in the statement of work as a separate Task Area in this contract. The NHLBI will determine later whether to award this specific Task Area. For instance, it may decide not to fund a clinical examination if no ancillary study grant application that proposes to fund a new exam component in the cohorts is successfully funded by an NIH Institute or Center. If the NHLBI does decide to award this Task Area, the Contractor shall be expected to work closely with ancillary study investigators and to coordinate exam components from multiple funding sources and the ancillary-study principal investigators. The important overall technical requirements associated with the Framingham Heart Study include the following: • Provide appropriate senior personnel with expertise in epidemiology, statistics, and longitudinal studies management. • Conduct events follow-up for morbidity and mortality of Original, Offspring, Generation 3, Omni Group 1, and Omni Group 2 participants (the anticipated total number of participants expected to be alive in 2015 and thus followed up is ~ 8,120). • Maintain the study's biospecimen repository. • Establish and maintain study databases, including updating the databases with data from newly ascertained events and ancillary studies both for internal use and for posting on dbGaP (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gap) and BioLINCC (https://biolincc.nhlbi.nih.gov). • Conduct a re-examination of the Generation 3 and Omni Group 2 cohorts. [Note: This is a separate Task Area for which NHLBI will determine later whether to award] • Coordinate and participate collaboratively in study committees to provide a transparent committee process, open access to study materials, clear policies for access to data and materials, and an approval process for projects that is fair and balanced. • Establish and direct appropriate quality assurance programs. • Perform administrative duties to support productive collaboration among both study investigators and collaborating investigators. • Prepare and submit a request for Office of Management and Budget clearance. • Arrange for and manage annual meetings of an NHLBI-appointed Observational Studies Monitoring Board as directed by the NHLBI Project Office. • Participate actively in statistical analyses for quality assurance and, as funding allows, for scientific publications and presentations. • Provide two-year epidemiology training to two contract-supported research fellows. • If required by NHLBI, perform activities related to study closeout. • Work cooperatively with all study investigators and staff, including NHLBI intramural Framingham investigators, the NHLBI Project Office, and any subcontractors, in all relevant aspects of the study. Small business firms that have demonstrated experience in performing the tasks as articulated above are invited to submit capability statements. Capability statements must provide evidence of ability to perform and experience in performing the tasks described above and will be reviewed based on the following: (1) the professional qualifications of scientific and technical personnel in accordance with the above requirements; (2) demonstrated capacity of individuals, administrative structure, and the institutional support to perform the functions of a multi-functional center for a collaborative epidemiology study, including protocol development, operational and scientific coordination, information processing, maintenance of a well curated repository of data and biospecimens; high retention in annual follow-up contacts of study participants for clinical events identification; and implementation of a system to ensure appropriate data sharing and biospecimen sharing(3) facilities and equipment available for data collection; (4) evidence of the ability to assess and monitor quality control for data acquisition; (5) evidence of ability to analyze data from longitudinal epidemiologic studies, and publish results in peer reviewed journals; and (6) the small business status of the firm under NAICS Code 541712. Evaluation of the capability statements shall be based on the technical capabilities listed above. Each technical point (criterion) will be weighted equally. Capability statements submitted in response to this notice that do not provide sufficient information for review will not be considered. This is NOT a Request for Proposals (RFP), and responses should NOT include budgetary information. The Government intends to negotiate one contract for the period of five years with an approximate award date of April 01, 2015. Firms responding to this notice shall provide capability statements (original and three copies) no later than 04:00 pm EST on the fifteenth (15th) calendar day from the date of this announcement to the address shown above. Your submission shall include the name and telephone number of a point of contact. Please reference this notice number. Electronic copies of capability statements will be accepted and shall be sent to Erin Dwyer, Contract Specialist, (email erin.dwyer@nih.gov) and Elizabeth Zoller, Contracting Officer (email address: elizabeth.zoller@nih.gov).
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/NIH/NHLBI/NHLBI-HV-15-01/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Framingham, Massachusetts, United States
- Record
- SN03316239-W 20140322/140320235313-fb2a6e4f0921791fc8bfbf8ecd753d4d (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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