Added: Jun 05, 2008 1:05 pm
The National Institutes of
Health, Clinical Center is conducting a market
survey/sources sought to help determine the availability and technical
capability of qualified small businesses, veteran-owned small businesses,
service disabled veteran-owned small businesses and/or HUBZONE small business
capable of serving the needs mentioned below. This market survey/sources sought
announcement is not a request for proposals and the Government is not committed
to award a contract pursuant to this announcement. The information from this
market research is for planning purposes only and will assist the Government in
planning its acquisition strategy. This is strictly market research and the
Government will not entertain questions concerning this market research. The Government will not pay for any costs
incurred in the preparation of information for responding to this market
survey.
The National Institutes of
Health (NIH) is the United States Government's primary agency for medical
investigation. It is located on a 317-acre campus in Bethesda,
MD, with additional components at the Geriatric Research
Center in Baltimore, MD.
The NIH is organized into 27 research institutes and centers, and the National
Library of Medicine. Although a large portion of NIH funds supports medical
research at institutions throughout the country, extensive
"intramural" research is also conducted on campus.
At the NIH, intramural
research is conducted in both the basic biomedical sciences and in clinical
programs. The purpose of this contemplated contract is to acquire the research support services necessary to conduct
basic and applied biomedical research in the areas of image processing,
neurophysiology, pharmacology, chemistry, genetics and to help conduct clinical
protocols. The development and expansion
of systems used in biomedical research require a highly specialized scientific
and technical staff. To reach research and
clinical objectives, it is necessary to be able to acquire data from various
sources, process and correct this data, analyze, interpret and present the
results. This developmental work needs to have minimum impact on current
research projects. The purpose of the
requested contract is to obtain the scientific and technical support services
needed to develop and expand systems used for medical image processing,
neurophysiology, pharmacology, chemistry, genetics and to help conduct clinical
protocols.
The additional support
staff will help to design, implement and
maintain the infrastructure needed to conduct basic, applied, and clinical
research for the Experimental Neurology Section (ENS) of the Image Sciences
Program (ISP) of the NIH Clinical Center CC. The potential range of services
may include, but not necessarily be
limited to, animal care and technical laboratory support, MR technical
services, biological services, data analysis, image analysis, and technical
writing.
The contract may also require
the contractor to provide additional ADP Support Services for the Experimental
Neurology Section (ENS) and the MEDx Group of the Image Sciences Program (ISP)
of the NIH CC. Services that contractor staff may be required to provide include,
but are not necessarily limited to, providing UNIX, MacOS X, and Windows
servers/workstation, micro-computer, network, and peripheral support to
facilitate the visualization and analysis of medical images and data. Such ADP support services may also include,
but are not necessarily limited to,
installation, optimization, system security, and troubleshooting of various
types of UNIX-based, MacOS X-based, and Windows-based servers and workstations.
Lastly, additional support
services are needed to provide scientific application programming and
interfacing laboratory equipment to computer systems on an as-needed basis.
C.2 Scope of the Contract
The contractor shall provide
a multidisciplinary staff who will work directly with Government personnel to
complete defined tasks. The contract staff shall include scientists, engineers,
system analysis, programmers, technicians, and technical writers as needed. Personnel performing the potential tasks must
have a range of skill levels in the following areas:
Project manager
Senior level Scientist
Senior level Engineer
Senior level System Analyst and Programmer
Junior level Programmer / Engineer
Research Assistant
Technical Writer
Note: See C.6 for the required staff qualifications
The Government shall issue a
series of tasks orders from time to time during the contract period of
performance that will provide a detailed description of what work is necessary.
These task orders may be development in scope and shall describe work to be
done, including specifications, interface requirements, documentation
requirements, prerequisites (such as hardware, software, and programming
language), location as to where services are required, and deliverables. For
other types of task orders, the individual orders shall describe the work to be
done, the kind and extent of technical assistance to be provided, task
prerequisites, location as to where services are required, and deliverable
items.
C.3 Task Areas
The activities for which task
orders may be issued include but are,
but not limited to the following:
C.3.1 Animal care and technical laboratory support
C.3.1.1 Animal care and technical laboratory support
in an ABSL1 and occasionally ABSL2 research environment. Animal care requirements include:
Providing routine animal care
such as feeding, watering, and cage changing
Performing daily health
observations and/or pain scoring on study animals
Regularly communicating with
facility staff about any husbandry issues, animal health status and study
requirements
Maintaining all appropriate
health records on study animals as designated in the approved animal study
proposals
C.3.1.2 Assisting or performing in the weighing and
tattooing of primates and the humane handling and restraint of animals
C.3.1.3 Performing technical laboratory animal
procedures including injections by various routes (IM, SQ, IV)
C.3.1.4 MRI technical services including helping
perform studies in brain and heart and other organs
C.3.1.5 Biological services including cell and
tissue culture
C.3.1.6 Quantitative analysis using
spectrophotometers, cell counter, flow cytometers, NMR relaxometers, …
C.3.1.7 Image analysis using computer software
C.3.1.8 Data analysis using spreadsheet and/or
statistical analysis software
C.3.1.9 Technical writing including preparation of
MS Word manuscripts, MS Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, etc.
C.3.2 ADP support services
C.3.2.1 Application Programming
Develop new biomedical
application programs
Integrate new algorithms into
biomedical application programs
Upgrade applications programs
to work on new or updated systems
Develop and maintain material
for WEB sites.
C.3.2.2 Engineer Design and Implementation
Design and build new
biomedical research instruments
Interface new instruments to
computer systems.
Prepare technical and user
documentation for engineering tasks
C.3.2.3 Systems Programming
Develop new utility programs
Integrate new biomedical
application programs into computer systems
Upgrade operating systems and
system programs on computer systems
Prepare technical and user
documentation for computer systems
C.3.2.4 System Maintenance
Maintain existing computer
systems including peripherals
Replace, if necessary, any
computer systems and/or peripherals with updated components
C.3.3 Project Management
C.3.3.1 Develop project plans
consisting of goals, sub-goals, tasks, methods and procedures for completing
tasks, skill level for completing tasks, personnel assigned to the task, hours
needed to complete the tasks, and schedule for completing the project.
C.3.3.2 Manage the contract
staff assigned to the projects.
One or more deliverable items
shall be required for each task order. For tasks involving computer
programming, deliverables shall include test data, fully tested operational
computer programs, test results, and documentation, all in accordance with task
order specifications. Other kinds of task shall require various types of
documentation, such as user manuals, training materials, and periodic and/or
final reports describing items such as work completed, finding, conclusions,
and recommendations, or other items to be specified in the task order. The
tasks shall require the contractor to maintain activity logs and/or progress
reports and submit them to the Government for review as defined in the
individual task order. The progress reports shall include project activity,
status, plans, issues and costs.
C.4 Specific Tasks
The following is more
detailed information on specific tasks that the contractor personnel may be
required to support:
Biomedical Image Processing
NIH uses a mix of commercial
off-the-shelf (COTS) software developed in house and software acquired for
other researchers to conduct biomedical image processing. The contractor is
expected to provide staff who are familiar with neuroscience imaging
techniques, software currently being used by ICs, and are able to develop image
processing algorithms and convert them into computer programs.
Development of tools for
conducting neurophysiology experiments
The conduction of experiments
in neurophysiology requires tools (A/D and D/A signal processing interface
boards and precisely written real time data collection software). Contractors
are required to supply personnel trained in biomedical engineering and software
engineering who are capable of developing and maintaining these tools.
Support of systems used to
conduct animal behavioral research
Contractors must me familiar
with a wide range of computer systems (Windows, Macintosh, and UNIX) in order
to support primate and rodent behavioral studies. They need to be familiar with
data collection apparatus used in these experiments.
Support for laboratories conducting
neuroscience and NMR research
Research in the neurosciences
involves experimental design, data collection and analysis in
neurophysiology,
pharmacology, chemistry, genetics and biomedical informatics. The contractor
must be able to recruit and manage staffs that have the necessary knowledge and
skill to assist
Government conducting
research in these areas.
Project Management
The contractor shall provide
the necessary administrative and management controls required to support this
contract. Administrative and management controls can be, but not limited to,
work breakdown structures, invoicing, status and progress reports,
correspondence, problem resolution and staffing management.
C.5 Staffing Requirements
See Section C.2 for a
description of the labor categories of staff that the contractor will be
required to provide for any task orders issued under the contemplated contract.
In addition to staff managed
directly by the contractor, there are tasks or sub-tasks that are more
effectively done by sub-contractors or consultants. The contractor will be
required to work with the requestor of the task and the project officer to
select the most appropriate sub-contractor or consultant to perform a given
task or sub-task.
The scope of services in this
contract will be accomplished through a series of projects that are implemented
through the issuance of task orders under the terms and conditions of the
contract.
The Government research staff
will develop a preliminary project plan and determine what tasks are necessary
to complete the project. Government and contract staff will work together to
develop a detailed project plan. The contractor will develop a task management
plan which outlines what will be done, how it will be done (methods and procedures),
what skill set is need to complete the task, who will be assigned to the task, what
resources are needed to complete the task (hardware, software, equipment,
etc.), an estimate of the number of hours needed to complete the task and an a
projected schedule for completing the task. After a full agreement on the task
management plan is reached; the formal task order will be issued by the
Contracting Officer.
C.6 Staff Personnel Qualifications
Required Qualifications of
Contractor staff personnel are as follows:
Senior Level Scientist (MS or
higher) This person should have a strong background in one or more of the
following areas: medical physics, computer science, mathematics, biology,
chemistry or biomedical informatics. They should be capable of working
independently. When involved in tasks relating to research system development,
they should be able to develop algorithms in their area of expertise with
minimal supervision.
Senior Level Engineer (BS or
higher) This person should have a strong background in biomedical
engineering, electrical engineering or system engineering. The person should be
able to design the research instruments described in task and have them
interface to specified computer systems.
Senior Level System Analyst
and Programmer (BS or higher) This person should have a strong background in
system programming, application design and programming using the appropriate
programming language or scripts (FORTRAN, Pascal, Visual Basic, C#, C, C++,
Java, Pearl,
assembly, etc.). This person should have a sufficiently extensive background in
science in order that they can interpret and implement algorithm developed by
senior level scientist.
Junior Level Programmer /
Engineer and Research Assistant (college level credits in computer science,
engineering, mathematics, biology or chemistry) This person should be able to
handle the common routine tasks involved in science, engineering or computer
systems.
Technical Writer (college
level credits in English, Journalism or Speech) This person should be able to
write and edit both technical and end-user documentation. Knowledge of WEB site
development may be necessary for some tasks.
Project Manager (college
level credits and experience in project management) This person should be
able to oversee and mange personnel assigned to tasks and work with project and
contract officers to appropriately manage the contract.
Key Personnel - One (1)
Project manager shall be explicitly designated as key personnel. The key
personnel shall be designated by the Contractor as its primary point of contact
regarding technical matters.
This
request is for interested firms with the capability of providing the required
services to submit a corporate capability statement to assist the Government in
determining in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 19.502-2(b)
whether or not this procurement will be set-aside for any of the programs
described above. The intended procurement will be classified under North
American Industrial Classification (NAICS Codes 541690 with a size standard of
$6.5 million dollars and 541519 with a
size standard of $18 million dollars respectively. All respondents are
requested to identify their firm’s size and type of business.
Interested
firms responding to this source sought should adhere to the following:
a.
Provide a capability statement demonstrating relevant experience, skills and
ability to fulfill the Government’s requirements as described above. The
capability statement should contain sufficient enough detail for the Government
to make an informed decision regarding your capabilities.
b. The capability statement should include past
performance references, descriptions of key personnel capabilities, resumes,
description of ability to obtain qualified staff in a timely manner to meet the
Government’s task order requirements and any other information deemed relevant
which clearly demonstrates your ability to provide the services as described above.
.
Added: Jun 05, 2008 2:32 pm
The requirement will be posted at a later date
