THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE NOTICE OF INTENT 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 Mental Health (NIMH) intends to negotiate and award a contract to The George Washington University, at 45155 Research Place, Ashburn, VA 20147, for Cognitive Neuroscience of Autism Spectrum Disorder Contractor support. 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 that has knowledge of the NIH Clinical Study protocol number cited herein without providing an unacceptable delay or serious mission impairment to critical scientific support at NIMH. Therefore, The George Washington University is the only vendor that is capable of meeting this Government need.

NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE
The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 541990 All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services with associated business size standard $15,000,000.00.

REGULATORY AUTHORITY
The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses of the Federal acquisition Requlation (FAR) in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 05-2005-94,2005-95 / dated 01-19-2017.

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.

DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT

Project Description
Title: Cognitive Neuroscience of Autism Spectrum Disorder Contractor support. Statement of Work: Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the Government as needed to perform the following tasks. The contractor shall:

Attend weekly meetings and advise LBC postbac IRTAs, post-doctoral fellows and Government officials on structural brain imaging and neurocognitive assessment consideration for data collection and hypothesis generation.

Oversee structural brain imaging and neurocognitive data collection and management, and disseminate scientific findings through a minimum of one conference presentation or scientific publication per year.

Assist with structural brain imaging and neurocognitive data collection and management.

One (1) interim progress report will be submitted at the six-month half way point in the performance period. This will outline the nature of data collected by the contractor as well as the nature of outreach efforts to disseminate knowledge pertaining to structural neuroimaging and neurocognitive development in autism spectrum disorder. One (1) final progress report will be submitted at the culmination of the performance period summarizing results and findings of the subject contract work.

Purpose and Objectives
The purpose of this requirement 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). Specifically, work shall be performed in accordance with NIH Clinical Study Protocol number 10-M-0027 entitled "Cognitive Neuroscience of Autism Spectrum Disorders."

The following objectives shall be completed from the subject contractor support: consultation regarding autism and related research questions to be investigated; development of neurocognitive paradigms to measure relevant features in autism and hypothesis generation; consultation regarding structural neuroimaging in autism spectrum disorder; and dissemination of scientific findings (e.g., presentations at scientific conferences, publications).

Period of Performance
The Period of Performance shall be effective on or around July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018, with an option for one additional performance period, as a Fixed-Price type of contract.

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 solicitation must include clear and convincing evidence of the offeror's capability of fulfilling the requirement as it relates to the technical evaluation criteria. The price proposal must include the labor categories, an estimate of the number of hours required for each labor category, fully loaded fixed hourly rate or each labor category, breakdown and rationale for other direct costs or materials, and the total amount.

In addition the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size must be included in the response. 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 June 21, 2017 at 4pm, Eastern and must reference number HHS-NIH-NIDA-SSSA-PSOL-2017-396 on all correspondences.

Responses must be submitted electronically to Mr. Hunter Tjugum at [email protected] and must reference the solicitation number HHS-NIH-NIDA-SSSA-PSOL-2017-396 on your electronic request. FAX requests are not accepted.

"All responsible sources may submit a bid, proposal, or quotation which shall be considered by the agency."