Added: Jun 04, 2008 5:25 pm
Sources Sought Notice No. SS-NIH-OD-OA-2008-1
Title: The Insight into the Determinant of Exceptional Aging and Longevity (IDEAL) Study.
This Sources Sought Notice (SS) is for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the National Institute of Aging (NIA) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The purpose of this Sources Sought Notice is to identify qualified small businesses including 8(a), HUBZone, Women Owned Small business, Small disadvantaged Business, and/or Service-Disabled Veteran-owned business concerns that are interested in and capable of performing the work described herein. The NIA does not intend to award a contract on the basis of responses nor otherwise pay for the preparation of any information submitted. As a result of this Sources Sought Notice, the NIA may issue a Request for Proposal (RFP). THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME. However, should such a requirement materialize, no basis for claims against NIA shall arise as a result of a response to this Sources Sought Notice or the NIA s use of such information as either part of our evaluation process or in developing specifications for any subsequent requirement. It is anticipated that one (1) cost-reimbursement, completion type contract will be awarded for a period of five (5) years, with an option for yearly extensions up to two (2) additional years and/or additional quantities. This contract may include incentives, award fees, and/or be performance based.
The National Institute of Aging is seeking qualified small businesses including 8(a), HUBZone, or Service Disabled Veteran-owned business concerns to provide support to the Longitudinal Studies Section (LSS), Clinical Research Branch (CRB), Intramural Research Branch (IRB), of the National Institutes of Aging (NIA), under the NIH to provide recruiting support as described below:
The proposed contract is aimed at enrolling 500 new Exceptionally Healthy and Long Lived (IDEAL) participants in the Baltimore Washington Longitudinal Study of Aging over a 5-year period. It is expected that approximately 50% of individuals who are invited for screening, based on a preliminary questionnaire-based evaluation, will be eligible for the study, and about 50% of them will join the BLSA. Thus, an average of 400 screening visits per year will be required to enroll 100 Elite Aging individuals per year in the BLSA.
The prevalence of individuals with these characteristics in the population cannot be reliably estimated from existing studies, either because these studies selected subgroups of the population (for example Health ABC or WHAS) or because some of the inclusion criteria described above were not collected. Based on the few available data, it can be conservatively estimated that approximately 1% of those 80 years or older fit the characteristics for inclusion in the IDEAL study. The catchment area identified for the identification of the IDEAL cohort is 150 miles around Baltimore. This is a highly populated area, with more than 8 million people living in the Baltimore Washington area and approximately other 7 million people living in the rest of the large catchments area. Since the percentage of those 80+ in the population is approximately 4.0%, there are approximately 600,000 people in the 80+ category, and it can be estimated that about 6000 of them are Elite (one percent)
Proposals will be sought to recruit, screen, and enroll 500 extremely healthy older individuals from the Washington-Baltimore area for participation in the Baltimore Washington Longitudinal Study of Aging over a 5 year period. The work to be performed includes implementing an extensive advertising campaign, designing and conducting a screening program, and facilitating enrollment of IDEAL aging individuals into the Baltimore Washington Longitudinal study of Aging, the oldest and most prestigious longitudinal study of aging maintained and sponsored by the NIH, National Institute on Aging.
The Government estimates that approximately 3 staff years are supported by this effort.
Capability Statements for this requirement shall address the following six (6) areas:
1. At time of award, the presence of an office is to be near to or in the center of the study area.
2. Experience with contracts of a similar size and scope to this proposed project.
Contract(s)/project(s) listed may include those entered into by the Federal Government, agencies of state or local governments, and commercial concerns.
3. An approach that demonstrates a clear understanding of the draft SOW.
4. Proposed personnel demonstrate that your organization has the necessary expertise to perform the requirements of the project.
For information purposes, it is estimated that about 5,500 direct labor hours of effort will be required on a yearly basis.
5. All necessary equipment and instrumentation for all aspects of the contract, including advertisement, recruitment, screening, materials and supplies, travel, software, and creation of a recruitment web site are required. The Government will not be providing equipment for use on this project; therefore, the contractor shall provide evidence that the equipment and instrumentation identified in this draft SOW shall be accessible and available for immediate use on this project.
6. The related experience of the company must address the capability of the organization to meet the above requirements.
7. Options may or may not apply to this contract.
8. Incentives may or may not apply to this contract.
Interested qualified small business organizations should submit a capability statement for this requirement not to exceed twenty (20) single sided pages including all attachments, resumes, charts, etc. (single spaced, 12 point font minimum) that clearly details the ability to perform the aspects of the notice described above and in the draft SOW. All proprietary information should be marked as such. Responses will be reviewed only by NIH personnel and will be held in a confidential manner. In the event an RFP is issued, North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 541720 with a size standard of 6.5 Million is being contemplated.
Capability statements are due no later than 2:00 p.m. eastern prevailing time on Thursday June 19, 2008. Please submit one (1) original and four (4) copies of your response to: Drake G. Russell, Contract Specialist, Office of Acquisitions, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-7540. If courier service or overnight service is used, the address is the same except the city is Rockville and the zip code is 20852. Facsimile responses will not be accepted. Electronic responses, via e-mail, may be sent to russeldr@mail.nih.gov. Electronic submissions are strongly preferred PDF format; however WordPerfect or Microsoft Word will be accepted. All responses, including electronic responses, must be received at NIH OD OA by the specified due date and time in order to be considered. The cut off date for questions regarding this Sources Sought is Thursday June 12, 2006 at 2:00 PM. All questions MUST be submitted in writing by Thursday 2:00 pm, June 12, 2008.
Point of Contacts
1. Drake G. Russell, Contract Specialist, Phone (301) 496-8055,
Email: drake.russell@mail.nih.gov
Mailing Address:
Drake G. Russell
Contract Specialist
NIH OD Office of Acquisitions
6100 Executive Blvd
Room # 6E01 Q
Rockville, MD 20892 7540
