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The information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method including small business socio-economic set-aside possibilities and to determine the availability of qualified Small Business companies technically capable of meeting the Government's potential requirement. All Small Business companies with the capability and availability to perform the requirement under the applicable NAICS code are invited to submit a response to this notice.
NORTH AMERICAN CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE
The NAICS code applicable to this requirement is 621511 Medical Laboratories with associated small business size standard $13.5 million.
Background
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) is the study of individual differences and age-related changes in cognition, personality, brain structure and function, and their influences on age-related changes.
The Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience: (1) Conducts basic and clinical research on individual differences in cognition, personality, and affect, (2) Investigates the neural contributions to these individual differences, (3) Investigates the influence of age on these traits and states and their reciprocal influence on cognitive and mental health, well-being, and adaptation, (4) Examines predictors and modifiers of age-related neurodegenerative diseases and age-associated changes in behavior, predispositions, and brain-behavior associations, (5) Identifies early markers of Alzheimer's disease and cognitive decline, and examines factors that promote the maintenance of cognitive health. Laboratory investigators employ a variety of methods, including experimental, longitudinal, epidemiological, neuroimaging, biomarker, neuropathological, and genetic methods in the analyses of behavioral, psychological, and biological aspects of aging.
The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) at the NIA, Intramural Research Program (IRP), studies age-related changes in medical, physiological, cognitive and physical functioning across the adult life span. BLSA participants come to the BLSA on a regular schedule for testing designed to predict normal as well as pathological aging. The Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience (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.
Purpose and Objectives
This Small Business Sources Sought notice seeks to determine eligible sources with the capability to provide the required services stated in this announcement. The LBN has a potential requirement for contractor support to perform advanced bioinformatic data analyses from measurements that have been obtained from plasma samples collected from participants in the neuroimaging sub study of the BLSA. The final objective is the identification of peripheral biomarkers associated with changes in brain volume, amyloid deposition, cognition and cardia-metabolic parameters in non-demented older individuals. Subject announcement includes performing a novel type of data analysis on a longitudinal metabolomics dataset for the identification of blood biomarkers predictive of rates of brain atrophy, amyloid deposition, cognitive decline and changes in cardia-metabolic parameters in non-demented older individuals. The metabolomics data have been derived from the analysis of 390 plasma samples (totaling 130 individual participants at three discrete time points).
Project Requirements
Project requirements will include performing biostatistical and bioinformatics analyses on metabolomics data provided by the Unit of Clinical and Translational Neuroscience, LBN to identify longitudinal small metabolite predictors of changes in rates of: a) Cognitive decline b) Brain atrophy c) Amyloid deposition d) Cardio-metabolic parameters. The essential government feature that this potential requirement needs to achieve is knowledge and skill in applying data analysis and data mining of subject type of data using analytical and mathematical methods to the discovery of blood biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD), which includes methods derived from Information Theory. The anticipated period of performance is 12 months beginning on or before September 30, 2014.
Capability statements sought
Interested parties are expected to review this notice to familiarize itself with the requirements of this project. Failure to do so will be at your firm's own risk.
Respondents must provide as part of their responses clear and convincing evidence of published manuscripts of research conducted in the area and scale of bioinformatics data analyses as described in this notice. Respondents must provide clear and convincing documentation of their capability in providing the other requirements and services specified in this notice. Respondents must provide a general overview of the respondents' opinions about the difficulty and /or feasibility of the potential requirement, and any information regarding innovative ideas or concepts.
The Respondent must also provide information in sufficient details of the respondents' (a) staff expertise, including their availability, experience, and formal and other training; (b) current in-house capability and capacity to perform the work; (c) prior completed projects of similar nature; (d) corporate experience and management capability; and (e) examples of prior completed Government contracts, references, and other related information.
The respondent must also provide their DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, and size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HubZone, etc.) pursuant to the applicable NAICS code and any other information that may be helpful in developing or finalizing the acquisition requirements.
All responses to this small business sources sought notice must reference solicitation number HHS-NIH-NIDA(SSSA)-SBSS-14-424 and be submitted electronically (via email) to Hunter Tjugum, Contract Specialist at [email protected] and [email protected] on or before the closing date specified in this announcement. Facsimile responses will be accepted at 301-480-1358.
The response must not exceed 15 pages in total length in a Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format using 11-point or 12-point font, 8-1/2" x 11" paper size, with 1" top, bottom, left and right margins, and with single or double spacing.
CONCLUDING STATEMENTS
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, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.
Confidentiality. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).