Solicitation Number:

BAA08-04

Notice Type:

Solicitation

Synopsis:

The goal of this DHS Science & Technology research program is to develop algorithms and/or analytical tools that will assist investigators of bioterrorism events by providing precision and statistical power to inferences concerning the degree of relatedness among organisms or samples used in a bioterrorist event. The focus of this effort will be on research in the areas microbial ecology, population dynamics, host-pathogen interaction. genetic stability, statistical inference, and match criteria for the following select agents: Bacillus anthracis, Yersinia pestis, Clostridium botulinum, Francisella tularensis, Brucella sp., Escherichia coli O157:H7, Burkholderia mallei, Burkholderia pseudomallei. The objectives include:
1. Improving our understanding of the population genetics of these pathogens to include research on genome stability, host preferences and interactions, genetic mobility of virulence factors, polymorphic sites, mutational hot spots, geographical distribution, microbial ecology, pathogen lifecycles, natural reservoirs, effects of host - pathogen interaction, etc.
2. Improving methods for determining rates of mutation and recombination of the pathogen genomes and the identification of adaptive mutations that can have forensic utility
3. Establishing match criteria for discriminating "difference" or "sameness" in sample comparisons. Define the parameters for inclusion or exclusion in the context of a known sample and questioned sample. This must be backed by statistical parameters for acceptance or rejection of the null hypothesis
4. Developing efficient, economical, and statistically rigorous sampling strategies to acquire spatially referenced genetic information on reservoirs of these pathogens
5. Developing bioinformatics-based analytical tools for supporting hypotheses testing regarding pathogen origin that go beyond current phylogeny-based inferential methods and can meet forensic (legal) admissibility requirements of relevance and reliability.

Multiple awards are anticipated under this BAA. This BAA has a registration process -- please see Section IV of the BAA. Prospective Offerors must ensure that they allow sufficient time to complete the registration and submission process.
**Due to the current maintenance and unavailability of the HSARPABAA.com site, please submit white papers in accordance with the established deadline of 4:30 pm (Local Eastern Time) Monday, May 19, 2008 to the following email address: baa08-04@dhs.gov.

Please ensure your submission is compatible with either Microsoft Office Word or Adobe Acrobat. Insert your institution name and short title of proposal in the subject line.


Files sent by email must be zipped and encrypted using Winzip or PKZip with 256-bit AES encryption. The password used to encrypt the file should be sent in a separate email to the address that is specified in the BAA. Please reference your proposal title in the body of the email containing the password.

Contracting Office Address:

Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, Office of Procurement Operations, Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, Washington, DC, 20528, UNITED STATES

Primary Point of Contact.: