The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Consolidated Station Support and Simplified Acquisitions (CSS/SA) Branch intends to negotiate and award a purchase order to The George Washington University. The purpose of this purchase order will be to provide the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Laboratory of Brain Coginitoin, Neuropsychology Section with a trained developmental neuropsychologist with expertise in autism spectrum disorders and structural neuroimaging.

NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE
The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 611310 with a Size Standard of $25.5M.

REGULATORY AUTHORITY
The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-76 dated July 15, 2014

STATUTORY AUTHORITY
This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13-Simplified Acquisition Procedures, Subpart 13.106-1 (b) (1), Soliciting from a single source and is not expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold. Contracts awarded using FAR Part 13-Simplified Acquisition Procedures are exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6-Competition Requirements.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, Neuropsychology Section at the National Institute of Mental Health is working on a study of autism spectrum disorder. The study will occur by:
1. Working with adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorders
2. The administration and scoring of neuropsychological tests
3. The processing and analysis of structural neuroimaging data

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES FOR THE ACQUISITION
The objective of this potential purchase order is to obtain the services of a trained developmental neuropsychologist with expertise in autism spectrum disorders and structural neuroimaging in the Cognitive Neuropsychology section of the Laboratory of Brain and Cognition (LBC).

CONTRACTOR REQUIREMENTS (SCOPE OF WORK)
The contractor requirements include, but are not limited to the following:
The contractor shall advise NIMH staff on what to expect when working with patients on the autism spectrum, including common cognitive and behavioral strengths and difficulties. After the instructional period has concluded, NIMH staff will have the opportunity to interact with patients. The contractor shall provide sufficient guidance and oversight to the NIMH staff during the patient interaction period.
The contractor will choose reliable neuropsychological assessment tools appropriate for this population in order to answer research questions and test hypotheses. Furthermore, the contractor shall teach NIMH staff the basics of neuropsychological assessment, followed by sufficient practice, training, and scoring sessions to establish good reliability prior to administering tests on patients.
The contractor shall possess expertise with the latest surface-based methods which will be used to parcellate and segment the cortex and subcortex in order to provide brain morphometrics of individuals with autism spectrum disorder and control subjects. Additionally, the contractor shall train NIMH staff will to use the highly involved software to quantify brain morphometry in these groups.

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. Specifically, The George Washington University is the only vendor in the current market place that can provide the services required by the National Instute of Mental Health. In accordance with FAR part 10, extensive market research was conducted to reach this determination. Specifically, a small business sources sought notice was posted to FedBizOpps referencing the above detailed generic requirements and no responses were received. Additionally, knowledgeable inviduals in the Government and Industry were contacted for market research purposes. None of the subject matter experts contacted were able to identify any contractor other than The Goerge Washington University who could fulfill the needs of this requirement. Finally, a review of both the GSA Advantage and Dynamic Small Business Search returned no results. Therefore, only The George Washington University is capable of meeting the needs of this requirement.

The intended source is:
The George Washington University
2121 I Street, Suite 601
Washington, D.C., 20052-0001

APPLICABLE CLAUSES AND PROVISIONS
The provision at FAR clause 52.213-4, Terms and Conditions - Simplified Acquisiton (Other Than Commercial Items).
The Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) are not applicable to this requirement.

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: unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, the delivery period after contract award, the prompt payment discount terms, the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), 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 the closing date and time of this announcement and must reference the solicitation number. Responses may be submitted electronically to Paul Marsalese, Contract Specialist, at [email protected]. US Mail and Fax responses will not be accepted.