National Institute of Mental Health, Contracts Management Branch, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rm. 9C-15, Rockville, MD 20857-8030

A -- NIMH GENETICS COORDINATING CENTER SOL NIMH-98-DB-0004 DUE 060198 POC Contracting Officer, David Eskenazi or Patricia Gibbons, (301) 443-2696 The National Institute of Mental Health proposes to issue a solicitation (RFP) No. NIMH-98-DB-0004 entitled "NIMH Genetics Coordinating Center" as Full and Open Competition under SIC Code 8731. The NIMH plans to award a five year (including option years) reimbursement contract, and plans to make the award by September 30, 1998. This will be the initial award for this requirement. The purpose of this requirement is to receive and process data and biological materials collected from individuals with serious brain disorders and their relatives. These data and biological materials shall be added to those currently distributed under the NIMH Human Genetics Initiative. Cell lines, DNA, and electronic files suitable for immediate genetic analysis will be prepared. Given that this is a highly technical endeavor, the offeror shall demonstrate prior experience in preparing pedigree files and using those files to conduct statistical genetic analyses. This shall furthermore be documented by publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals. This contractor shall also widely distribute this information, for use exclusively in genetic research on serious brain disorders, to qualified investigators in the scientific community (including scientists in industry, the NIH intramural program, and public and private universities) granted access by NIMH. Specifically, the following tasks shall be performed on data and biological materials received from projects supported under RFAs MH-98-010 and MH-99-xxx:: receive blood samples collected from patients and their relatives and create cell lines via Epstein-Barr virus transformation of lymphocytes from these blood samples, for a fixed price; expand these lymphoblastoid cell lines to extract DNA samples, for a fixed price; receive clinical, diagnostic, pedigree structure, and other data, for incorporation into phenotypic databases that are suitable for immediate genetic analysis; receive data obtained from any and all genetic analyses of these materials, for incorporation into genotypic databases; maintain, store, and distribute all databases, cell lines, and DNA samples for immediate genetic analysis by qualified investigators granted access by NIMH to these data and materials; and continue to distribute data and biological materials already collected under the NIMH Human Genetics Initiative. Request for Proposal (RFP) No. NIMH-98-DB-0004 will be available on or about March 31, 1998 and the receipt date of proposal on or about June 1, 1998. The RFP may be accessed through the NIMH Home Page by using the following instructions: access the home page at http://www.nimh.nih.gov, first select "Grants and Contracts", then select "NIMH Request for Proposals (RFP)", and lastly select "NIMH-98-DB-0004." Please note that the RFP for this requirement will include the Statement of Work, Deliverables and Reporting Requirements, the Technical Evaluation Criteria, and proposal preparation instructions. All information required for the submission of an offer will be contained in the electronic RFP package. Following proposal submission and initial review process, offerors comprising of the competitive range will be requested to provide additional documentation to the Contracting Officer. All responsible sources may submit a proposal that will be considered by the NIMH. This advertisement does not commit the Government to award a contract. (0071)

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