36C24520C0013-000.docx

VHAPM Part 813.106 Simplified Acquisition Procedures: Soliciting from a Single Source Attachment 1: Single Source Justification for SAP under the SAT

FedBizOpps Justification and Approval Notice

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* = Required Field FedBizOpps Justification and Approval Notice Rev. March 2010 A VISN 5 Mental Illness Research 21201 N 541714 Department of Veterans Affairs

VAMC

10 N Greene St Baltimore MD 21201 Vanessa Jacobs Contract Specialist 410-605-1506

FAR 6.302-1

36C24520C0013 40,268.00 10-01-2019

VAN ANDEL RESEARCH INSTITUTE

333 BOSTWICK AVE NE

GRAND RAPIDS

MI

49503 vanessa.jacobs@va.gov vanessa.jacobs@va.gov

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Justification for Single Source Awards IAW FAR 13.106-1 For Over Micro-Purchase Threshold but Not Exceeding the SAT ($250K)

Acquisition Plan Action ID:______________________

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs, VISN 5 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), attached to the VA Maryland Health Care System (VAMHCS).

2. Brief Description of Supplies/ Services required and the intended use/Estimated Amount: This justification sets forth and requests an approval for a sole-source award to the Van Andel Research Institute (VARI), Michigan State University (MSU). The period of performance for this project will be October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2021 and will include one option year; each option year will begin October 1 and end September 30 of each VA fiscal year. The estimated cost for the entire 2 year period of this contract is $80,537 itemized as follows: Base Year- $40,263, Option Year - $40,264.

The MIRECC is requesting to obtain a contract with the VARI to perform specific lab analysis on blood samples drawn from 600 Veterans at three participating VA locations (Baltimore, Atlanta and Denver). The results of this analysis will be sent to the Principal Investigator, Teodore Postolache, MD, at the Baltimore VAMHCS. The following lab tests will be performed:

1. V-plex mesoscale proinflammatory panel - Measuring IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-10, IL-12 p70, IL-13, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α;

2. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) assays – Measuring Kynurenine, tryptophan, Kynurenic acid (KYNA). Note: Two separate HPLC assays need to be done as KYNA requires zinc;

3. Gas-Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) Analysis - Measuring Quinolinic acid, picolinic acid;

4. Mesoscale V-plex – Measuring CRP, SAA, ICAM, VCAM-1; and

5. Enzyme Immunoassay (ELISA) - Measuring Neopterin.

Funds for this award have been received and the award has been approved by the Research and Development Service and by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). The use of this lab is explained thoroughly in the approved proposal.

3. Unique characteristics that limit availability to only one source, with the reason no other supplies or services can be used: The VARI has been chosen because of its current federally funded R01 grant which uses an analytic platform measuring the same biomarkers for a project on perinatal depression. Also the co-investigator on Dr. Postolochae’s CSR&D award, Lena Brundin, MD, PhD, who leads the lab, published pioneering articles on inflammation markers in suicidal behavior as well as coauthoring with Dr. Postolache on an article on T. gondii and suicidal behavior, and one on quinolinic acid and suicidal behavior, using identical methods as the ones used in the current project.

Dr. Brundin has been a collaborator with Dr. Postolache for several years, with publications on T. gondii and suicidal behavior in patients admitted for suicide attempts and quinolinic acid in the cerebrospinal fluid of suicide attempters. Dr. Brundin and Dr. Postolache are also collaborating on two grants – an R01 supported project on kynurenine metabolites in peripartum depression and suicide, and on Dr. Postolache’s American Foundation on Suicide Prevention (AFSP) Distinguished Investigator Award in which Dr. Brundin will supervise the laboratory procedures for Specific aims 2 – regarding kynurenine pathways and inflammation markers. Dr. Brundin will advise Dr. Postolache on the interpretation of peripheral inflammation markers and will take part in interpretation of results for the kynurenine/ suicidal behavior association analysis.

VARI – MSU Intellectual environment VARI and MSU have a well-established working relationship in Grand Rapids. The MSU College of Human Medicine is located in Grand Rapids with its head-quarters in the Secchia Center, next to the VARI laboratory building. Beginning in 2007, the MSU College of Human Medicine underwent one of the largest MD medical school expansions in the nation and doubled the size of its enrollment by fall 2013, educating approximately 800 future physicians. The $90 million- Secchia Center was opened on September 10, 2010. The MSU medical students receive their preclinical education in either Grand Rapids at the Secchia Center or in East Lansing on the main campus of Michigan State University. Each location has 200 preclinical students. MSU researchers (including Drs. Brundin, Fazleabas and Leach) occupy space within the VARI building in Grand Rapids. Dr Brundin, specifically, has a shared appointment between the two institutions, as mentioned above. The Van Andel Institute Graduate School (VAIGS) has a PhD-level graduate program that provides institution-supported access to graduate students. Further, an agreement with MSU permits graduate students in five programs at MSU to conduct their thesis work at VARI; several students are currently doing so. Dr. Brundin is the supervisor of two MSU Neuroscience graduate students (Kyle Christensen; and Filip Ventorp, the latter is Dr. Brundin’s PhD student from Lund University who relocated to Grand Rapids). Dr Brundin is also a teacher in the VARI Graduate School.

The VARI provides many formal and informal institutional opportunities for the development and interactions of MSU and VARI faculty. The Institute’s seminar series supports a regular schedule of presentations by leading scientists brought to VARI, and the faculty and postdocs have ample opportunities to interact with them. Each faculty member invites and hosts two seminar speakers a year, who may be collaborators or outside researchers in the investigator’s area of expertise. Joint MSU/VARI seminars add the opportunity to gain a clinical perspective on many topics each year. In addition, every year the VARI hosts international conferences in Neurodegenerative disorders and Cancer that features nationally and internationally renowned speakers. MSU-hosted seminars are held at VARI, and in addition MSU-seminars at the East Lansing main campus are broadcasted by video link to the VARI and the adjacent Secchia center.

The past and current collaborations between Drs. Brundin and Postolache have been fruitful. The two have co-published five articles alternating and also sharing senior authorship, with a main focus on T. gondii and suicide attempts and suicide endophenotypes. They also work together on a perinatal depression and suicidal behavior project (PI Brundin).

4. Description of market research conducted and results or statement why it was not conducted:

No action is being taken obtain competition due to the specific research and clinical qualifications of the VARI (outlined above) as well as the unique credentials and research experiences of Dr. Brundin and her staff.

Contracting Officer's Certification: Purchase is approved in accordance with FAR13.106-1(b). I certify that the foregoing justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. Note: COs are required to make a determination of price reasonableness IAW FAR 13.106-3. See the S19 Open Market (FAR13) Award Documentation Form with Abstract to document price reasonableness.

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VHAPM Part 813.106 Page 4 of 4 Original Date: 08/30/17 Revision 01 Eff Date: 04/23/2018