SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Linking function and structure: the relationship between brain activity and white matter integrity
- Notice Date
- 8/29/2014
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Station Support/Simplified Acquisitions, 31 Center Drive, Room 1B59, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892
- ZIP Code
- 20892
- Solicitation Number
- HHS-NIH-NIDA-SSSA-PSOL-2014-307
- Archive Date
- 9/27/2014
- Point of Contact
- Hunter A. Tjugum, Phone: 301 435 8780, ,
- E-Mail Address
-
hunter.tjugum@nih.gov, NIDASSSAPurchaseRequ@mail.nih.gov
(hunter.tjugum@nih.gov, NIDASSSAPurchaseRequ@mail.nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- INTRODUCTION THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) SYNOPSIS TO AWARD A CONTRACT OR PURCHASE ORDER WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME). The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Station Support Contracts and Simplified Acquisitions Branch (SS/SA) on behalf of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) intends to negotiate and award a contract without providing for full and open competition (Including brand-name) to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 719 Thompson Ln, Nashville, TN 37204 for Linking function and structure: the relationship between brain activity and white matter integrity services. NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 541990 with a Size Standard of $14.0 M. REGULATORY AUTHORITY The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 05-74 and 75 thru July 1, 2014. This acquisition is conducted under the procedures as prescribed in FAR subpart 15-contracting by Negotiations at an amount expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold ($150,000). STATUTORY AUTHORITY This acquisition is conducted under the authority of 41 U.S.C. 253(c) under provisions of the statutory authority of FAR Subpart 6.302-1-Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1). GENERAL INFORMATION 1. Title: Linking function and structure: the relationship between brain activity and white matter integrity 2. Background Information: The National Institute on Aging (NIA), one of the 27 Institutes and Centers of NIH, leads a broad scientific effort to understand the nature of aging and to extend the healthy, active years of life. The Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience (LBN) enhances understanding of age associated physical and biological changes in health and disease. The LBN investigates structural and functional brain changes and how they relate to age-associated changes in cognition, and factors that modify cognitive and brain aging. The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) at the NIA studies age-related changes in medical, physiological, cognitive and physical functioning across the adult life span. The LBN studies age-related changes, including development of a variety of medical conditions and the effects of these comorbidities on physical and psychological health and resilience. Data from the BLSA is used by many of the NIA laboratories in the preparation of analyses, presentations and manuscripts. 3. Purpose and Objectives: The purpose of this requirement is to obtain contractor support to provide the government with state-of-the art statistical approaches and analysis of white matter correlates of alterations in functional connectivity as well as functional connectivity correlates of white matter alterations. The requirement will use resting state fMRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) acquired by the government. Such imaging sequences provide new avenues for mapping human brain activity, including investigation of the functional connectivity and white matter integrity to better understand how networks of brain activity underlying cognitive processing change with aging and disease. The subject contractor will develop new statistical approaches, including massively univariate analyses, for the combined rsfMRI and DTI data. The subject contractor will provide the government with results of statistical analyses of the combined rs-fMRI and DTI data. The LBN has established a database and image processing pipeline to perform customized processing of structural and functional brain images of participants in the BLSA, which utilize 3T MRI data acquired on the NIA 3T scanner. Customized scripts were developed for analysis of BLSA images and for further investigation of structure-function associations that will allow mapping of functional connections in the human brain. The subject contractor provided analysis and development of methods for statistical analysis of structure function relationships of longitudinal NIA BLSA images. Concurrently, the LBN collects longitudinal BLSA MRI data, producing approximately 300 sets of imaging data annually. In addition, tools for analysis of structure-function relationships including both temporal and spatial analysis are limited and require customization for longitudinal analysis. Such tools will continue to be developed and validated under any contract resulting from this announcement. 4. Period of Performance: Base period: September 30, 2014 through September 29, 2015 Option Period One (1): September 30, 2015 through September 29, 2016 Option Period Two (2): September 30, 2016 through September 29, 2017 Option Period Three (3): September 30, 2017 through September 29, 2018 Option Period Four (4): September 30, 2018 through September 29, 2019 CONTRACTOR REQUIREMENTS (SCOPE OF WORK) The subject contractor shall provide all resources necessary to accomplish the tasks and deliverables described herein: 1. Extend the development of pipelines for imaging processing and new statistical approaches, including massively univariate analyses, to the combined rs-fMRI and DTI data. 2. Assist in providing the government with pre-processed imaging data and statistical analyses of the combined rs-fMRI and DTI data 3. Oversee the installation and implementation of software for specialized image analysis of BLSA images and support method translation to NIA intramural researchers CONTRACTING WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME) DETERMINATION The determination by the Government to award a contract without providing for full and open competition is based upon the market research conducted as prescribed in FAR Part 10-Market Research, specifically the review and evaluation of the responses to the sources sought notice published in the FedBizOpps on July 30, 2014, under the number HHS-NIH-NIDA(SSSA)-SBSS-14-307, for services under the subject title for the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA). The Vanderbilt University has both the expertise and facilities to perform the requirements of this project. Their expertise is widely recongnized in the fields of aging and statistical methodology of the subject fields. In addition, this contractor possesses the experience in working with the database and imaging processing pipeline that will continue to be established in performing customized processing of structureal and functional brain images of NIA participants in the BLSA study. Vanderbilt University has maintained collaboration to the BLSA project resulting in the publication of many manuscripts related to linking function and structure between brain activity and white matter integrity of BLSA data. Because of the related expertise and knowledge of the project, the Vanderbilt University is the only known source with the capability of providing the services for this project. CLOSING STATEMENT This synopsis is not a request for competitive proposals. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice. Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties' bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement and include a technical proposal, cost-price proposal, the period of performance, the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov." 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. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement. All responses must be received by September 12, 2014, 12:00 pm, Eastern time and must reference number HHS-NIH-NIDA-SSSA-PSOL-2014-307. Responses may be submitted electronically to Mr. Hunter Tjugum, Contract Specialist at NIDASSSAPurchaseRequ@mail.nih.gov or by U.S. mail to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Station Support Contracts and Simplified Acquisitions Branch (SS/SA), 31 Center Drive; Sutie 1B59, Bethesda, MD 20892-2080, Attention: Hunter Tjugum. Fax responses will not be accepted. All responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency.
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