National Library of Medicine, Office of Acquisitions Management, Building 38A, Room B1N17, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland 20894

R -- MANAGEMENT SUPPORT SERVICES SOL NLM 98-111/LTN DUE 092598 POC Liem T. Nguyen, Contract Specialist, 301-496-6546; Karen D. Riggs, Contracting Officer, 301-496-6546 E-MAIL: NBAC, liem_nguyen@nlm.nih.gov. It is the intent of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC), a Presidential National Commission which is administratively supported by the National Institutes of Health, Office of the Director to procure management support services on a sole source basis from Johns Hopkins University, School of Hygiene and Public Health, 624 North Broadway, Baltimore, Maryland 21205-1901. The Johns Hopkins University will conduct a series of sutdies to obtain for the NBAC both qualitative and quantitative information on the impact of the United States'(U.S.) requirements on the conduct of research in other countries. The vendor will conduct three focus groups and a survey to jointly determine whether, from the perspective of the investigators, the structure and function of the current U.S.oversight system facilitates or impedes the performance of research in other countries; what impediments, if any, exist; whether private sponsorship of research in other countries by U.S. firms presents any or additional impediments(s); whether there is adequate knowledge of and familiarity with cultural, political, and economic issues in other countries by U.S. researchers, Institutional Review Board members, sponsors, and regulators; whether changes should be proposed in the training of U.S. researchers who conduct research in other countries to include greater or different consideration of ethical, cultural, and legal issues. Johns Hopkins University has researchers who have conducted extensive research in bioethics which has a direct bearing on this particular project. Their researchers have the combined expertise in both qualitative and quantitative analysis which is rare and is essential for this project that joins the validity and reliability of information gathered by a survey with the richness and depth of qualitative exploration and probing. Johns Hopkins University's researchers have published extensive literature on national and international issues such as: health decision making, informed consent, application of legal and ethical frameworks to health care decision making, implications on genetic testing, the impact of regulatory activity on public health issues, discrimination in the provision of health services, health belief modeling, harms of excluding particular populations from clinical research, and protections of human research subjects, etc. In addition, this facility has researchers with a unique professional knowledge and experience in this type of study which makes Johns Hopkins University the only source that can successfully provide the required management support services. This is not a Request for Quotations (RFQ) nor is an RFQ available.***** Posted 09/09/98 (W-SN247456). (0252)

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