Cancer Study Cohort Recruitment

The National Institutes of Health is procuring research and operational support services for a prospective multi-center adult cohort study of cancer prevention and etiology, with ordering authority extending to June 3, 2028. The vehicle is a Master IDIQ established June 1, 2018, with a shared ceiling of $150 million. Ordering closes in approximately 1 year and 10 months, leaving a narrow window for new task-order awards.

The vehicle funds recruitment of 150,000 to 200,000 adult participants through U.S. integrated health care systems, collection of serial biospecimens and longitudinal data, and long-term follow-up for disease outcomes. Task orders span study planning and preparation, infrastructure setup, participant advisory board establishment, and ongoing participant engagement and follow-up under the "CONNECT for Cancer Prevention Study" program.

All 23 task orders are unrestricted and fully non-competitive. Four health-system prime contractors have captured the vehicle: Henry Ford Health System leads by potential value at $47.8 million (5 orders), followed closely by Kaiser Foundation Hospitals at $46.4 million (8 orders), University of Chicago at $20.6 million (5 orders), and Sanford Research at $9 million (5 orders). The entire portfolio funds the National Cancer Institute exclusively. The vehicle shows uneven ordering momentum—9 awards in 2020, 5 in 2019, 4 in 2018, 4 in 2024, and only 1 in 2022—with the most recent task orders awarded in September 2024.

Combined task-order potential value stands at $123.8 million, with $81.7 million obligated (66% of potential value). Recent task orders under the fiscal-year 2024 CONNECT phase range from $3.8 million to $23.6 million in potential value, with completion dates extending to September 2027. All awards carry cost-based pricing (Cost Plus Fixed Fee or Cost No Fee), reflecting the research nature of the work. Contractors perform work at their respective health system facilities nationwide.

Competition for new orders under this vehicle is closed to entities outside the four named awardees. Pursuit opportunities are limited to task orders under an established IDIQ structure, not new prime awards.

DCEG plans to build a new prospective multi-center adult cohort study of 150,000-200,000 adult participants enrolled through US Integrated Health Care Systems (IHCS) to study the causes of cancer and the means of its prevention. The goal of this acquisition is to work with selected IHCS sites to recruit health plan members from selected IHCS sites into this complex, intensive, prospective cohort study, to collect serial biospecimens and longitudinal data, and to follow participants for disease outcomes, with a primary focus on cancer.