Statement of Work (SOW)

Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives

Office of Research Infrastructure Programs

Support for Development, Maintenance and Distribution of Identifiers for Research Resources to Serve Replicable, Reproducible and Generalizable Biomedical Research.

I. BACKGROUND

The Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP) is part of the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI) within the NIH Office of the Director (OD). ORIP has two divisions: the Division of Comparative Medicine (DCM) and the Division of Construction and Instruments (DCI). ORIP plays a central role in biomedical discovery by providing shared instrumentation for investigators or institutional programs as well as critical infrastructure to develop, advance, maintain, and distribute a wide array of research models and related resources.

DCM’s goals are to distribute, maintain and archive the highest quality, well-characterized, and validated models for use in biomedical research. They encompass a broad range of approaches, from traditional in vivo and animal systems to cutting-edge human new approach methodologies (NAMs), such as organoids, advanced cell cultures, microphysiological systems, computational modeling, artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML), and a combination of these approaches. Such resources are produced under defined conditions and are delivered to scientists with a guaranteed assurance of quality and reproducibility as well as information regarding the description and original source. By sustaining model resources, DCM is promoting rigorous and transparent research in all areas of biomedical science supported by a variety of NIH grant programs. DCM supported model resources adapted a citation system, which enables users of the resources and authors with related publications to authenticate research models and biomaterials by using and finding persistent unique identifiers. Such a system serves the biomedical community to correctly report, accurately replicate and extend findings from their research and allows resource distributors and funding agencies to monitor the use of these research models and biomaterials.

II. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES

The following are the objectives of this requirement:

1. Maintain and further develop research resource identifiers (RRIDs) which aim to promote research resource identification, discovery, and reuse, and will allow NIH personnel, model resource centers, and the research community to monitor the use and conduct citation analysis of

2. ORIP supported research resources, such as models, human NAMs, cultured cells and other biological materials. This will include improving search capabilities above what is currently available based on ontological models for both genotypes and phenotypes as well as continuing to gather and improve the visibility of validation data for specific models.

3. Conduct analyses of gaps in model resources (models, cells, tissues, and human NAMs) and knowledge. These analyses will address the relevant relationships between model resources, known model genomes or phenomes, and their use to model human genes, gene pathways and phenotypes associated with pathological processes to truly identify areas for which no tools or models are available. This information will be instructive for ORIP in deciding whether additional resources should be created or if sufficient resources are already available for research purposes.

4. Develop methods to assess the value and impact of ORIP supported model resources and related biomaterials. The methods and analytics developed should assist ORIP and other NIH ICOs in portfolio analysis, including demonstrating the effectiveness of funding resource centers for model systems and related biomaterials. This information will allow ORIP staff to calculate return on investment, in particular for resource centers and inform development of develop strategies to enhance access to model resources to improve inquiries by scientists into diseases and processes impacting human health.

III. CONTRACTOR REQUIREMENTS

4.1 Collaboration

The Contractor shall furnish all necessary labor, materials, supplies, equipment, and services to successfully carry out the Statement of Work (SOW). It is expected that the Contractor will work collaboratively with federal staff as well as non-governmental third-party personnel and stakeholders. This collaboration may include day-to-day activities, planning, development, and creating and sharing documentation. The Contractor will act, where possible, to minimize the effort required by the participating Resource Centers.

4.2 Knowledge, skills, and abilities

1. Demonstrated extensive experience working with ORIP and OCCAM (Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine) and other NIH-supported resources.

2. Proven ability and experience in designing, building, and maintaining web-based platforms and interactive dashboards for FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) scientific data access and reporting.

3. Expertise in analysis, evaluation, assessment, and statistical methods to interpret complex scientific datasets and provide actionable trustworthy insights.

4. Advanced knowledge of applying quantitative and qualitative statistical principles to evaluate program outcomes and resource usage.

5. Experience creating, using and maintaining ontologies to standardize, tag, and align resource information across multiple domains especially to improve reproducibility, reliability and trustworthiness of data.

6. Experience creating, using and maintaining common data elements especially for pre-clinical domains to align resource information across multiple domains.

7. Specialized experience in informatics for genotype and phenotype data, particularly data sourced from NIH-supported centers and projects.

8. Proven track record in developing, maintaining, and applying identifiers to research resources, ensuring that identifiers are unique, machine-readable, and openly accessible.

9. Expertise in convening key resource database providers to participate in the development and implementation of a system to enable transparent tracking, vigorous curation, and validation of NAMs used in published studies.

10. Proven, established relationships with model resource centers, cell repositories, and other biomedical resource centers to enable implementing large-scale outreach and development of resource tracking standards (e.g., RRIDs) that can be uniformly implemented and adopted.

Collaborating with model resource centers / NAMs centers / tissue banks / Cell line repositories in the service of shared schemas and cuts down on the waste of resources.

11. Ability to prepare, edit, and deliver comprehensive reports that inform federal policy decisions and provide targeted insights for program stakeholders especially to address reproducibility of science.

12. Capacity to deliver a tool or service that integrates data from multiple biomedical resource repositories and databases, performs automated validation checks, and highlights inconsistencies, gaps, or potential problems with research resources making these widely available to authors (comparable to platforms such as Biomedical Resource Watch).

13. Demonstrated partnerships with NIH, research funders, journals and publishers and scientific societies to develop infrastructure that supports open reproducible science.

14. Experience with ontology informed operational management and search systems of a global research resource registry that serves diverse scientific communities.

15. Experience in community engagement and training to promote adoption of identifiers and resource tracking standards to improve efficiency of the data ecosystem.

IV. CONTRACTOR TASKS

Task 1 – Support of unique identification tagging of selected NIH-funded research resources

1.1 Maintenance of Existing ORIP Funded Research Resources

The Contractor shall maintain an “integrated” index and all of the subparts of the various databases developed under the previous contract(s). Maintenance is defined as the following:

a. Monthly verification of a subset of links (typical numbers are 5 per source);

b. Monthly outreach to all sources via an e-mail list which shall include, but is not limited to, the status of the system, version of the catalog of the resources currently in use or being updated, news about the service in general, and statistics on reference of the resource in the published literature; and

c. Weekly verification that the data in the index is uncorrupted and that totals have not changed unexpectedly. In the case of changes, the Contractor shall investigate the errors with programming staff and correct them. After the investigation and corrections are completed, the Contractor shall report outcomes to the resources.

Applicable resources include the following:

● AGSC Ambystoma Genetic Stock Center;

● MMRRC The Mouse Mutant Resource and Research Centers

• MMRRC at the Jackson Laboratory;

• MMRRC at UC Davis;

• MMRRC at the University of North Carolina;

• MMRRC at the University of Missouri;

● RRRC Rat Resource and Research Center;

● BDSC Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center at Indiana University;

● DGRC Drosophila Genomics Resource Center;

● ZIRC Zebrafish International Resource Center;

● NXR National Xenopus Resource Center;

● XGSC Xiphophorus Genetic Stock Center

● TSC A Resource Center for Tetrahymena thermophile;

● CGC Caenorhabditis Genetics Center (Wormbase);

● NSRRC National Swine Resource and Research Center;

● NHPRR Nonhuman Primate Reagent Resource;

● Development of Validated Drosophila in vivo RNAi Models of Human Diseases;

● National Biomedical Research Centers

● TIGM Texas A&M Institute for Genomic Medicine

● Cre Driver Strain Resources

● Sperm Stem Cell Libraries for Biological Research;

● The Special Mouse Strain Resource at The Jackson Laboratory

● NDRI National Disease Research Interchange (Human Tissues and Organs for Research

Resource, HTORR)

1.2 Curation of New Resources - Model Resource Centers

In consultation with ORIP Program Staff (PS), other stakeholders, and dependent on the availability/maturity of new resources, the contractor shall plan for the addition of 1-3 new resources per year for the duration of the contract. Criteria used to determine suitable new resources will be based on the scientific importance of that resource to the biomedical community, stakeholder needs, and availability of funding.

1.3 Curation of New Resources - NAMs

In consultation with ORIP Program Staff (PS), Office of Research Innovation, Validation, and Application (ORIVA), and other stakeholders, the contractor shall plan for and implement the addition of new approach methodologies (NAMs) for the duration of the contract. The criteria used to determine suitable new resources will be based on the scientific importance of that resource to the biomedical community, stakeholder needs, and availability of funding. The contractor shall plan for the addition of 1-3 new NAMs resources per year for the duration of the contract.

The contractor should consider human de-identified system implementation for tissues to serve RRIDs in accordance with NIH policy on enhancing security measures for human biospecimens (NOT-OD-25-160). Tissue banks, cell line sources, and sources of NAMs may all create different RRIDs from the same individual U.S. Person (e.g., patient or donor). However, going across different tissue repositories to determine whether the tissue comes from the same person is currently difficult if not impossible especially as NIH Biospecimens Security policy is firmly in place. A group of tissue bank heads, NAMs and cell line repository staff should be convened to solve the patient identification problem in a way that is informed by NIH Biospecimens Security Policy, HIPPA and applicable laws. The system must serve the biomedical community and be easily implementable by all tissue banks and repositories. Potential solutions can build on existing systems, however if key problems arise, the contractor in collaboration with biobanks shall be ready to build a separate solution that satisfies the needs for both identification while not sharing any personally identifiable information with external systems.

The following are potential examples of additional resources, which are not funded by ORIP but have a critical importance for implementation of the new NIH priorities on human-biology-based NAMs to complement animal models and enhance investigations:

● CVCL Cellosaurus

● nPOD Network for Pancreatic Organ Donors with Diabetes

● IIDP Integrated Islet Distribution Program

● Collection of Alternative Methods for Regulatory Application, CAMERA

1.4 Maintenance of the Dashboard and Reports for NIH of Model Resource Centers, and NAMs repositories (or databases) as they become available.

Under this task, the Contractor shall perform the following:

a. Annual reports consisting of summary statistics and a simple format file of all raw data about the use of models and NAMs in the biomedical literature shall be provided to the specific model resource centers and NAM providers as these become available, and the Contracting Officer’s Representative. The Contractor shall meet annually (or by webinar) with the model resource centers and NAMs owners to report on progress. If the organism repository or NAMs owners are unable to attend, materials shall be provided to them by email or file transfer protocol (FTP) as data size dictates.

b. The contractor should maintain and continue improving dashboard features within its infrastructure where the NAMs and model resource centers and interested NIH program officers are viewing the current citations reports. Monthly updates shall be provided as regular data is released. Model repository and NAMs owners will continue viewing and downloading the data or selecting push notifications in standard data formats such as Comma Separated Values (CSV) or xml. The Contractor shall make reasonable accommodations to present the data as requested by the repositories/NIH. The NIH Program Officials will continue to have access to the ‘master’ section where the current data of the entire project are accessible, downloadable, and graphically represented.

c. The contractor should provide a standard open protocol, such as REST. Application Programming Interface (API) that can retrieve the set of papers associated with RRID, and an API that provides a set of RRIDs per paper. The APIs may be built applicable dashboards by the contractor which might include the RRID based data in another NH dashboards.

1.5 Dissemination of Unique Identification System

Under this task, the Contractor shall perform the following:

a. Disseminate information using the Contractor’s website, social media, presentations at biomedical meetings, publications, etc. – the idea that unique identifiers help authors/grantees meet rigor and transparency guidelines;

b. Write one or more press releases per year around the use of the Identifier systems (as recommended by ORIP program staff to be posted on specified websites. As an example, a press release could be written at the end of the calendar year to update an unusually high level of citation of a specific resource;

c. Maintain applicable project webpages to reflect the state of the project;

d. Create and execute a plan to improve journal staff knowledge about and adoption of rigor and reproducibility guidelines;

e. Reach out to 12 journals per year, with priority being given to journals covering broad biomedical fields, as a means of communicating with a wider community;

f. Present or exhibit at one scientific meeting per year, as appropriate. The meeting venue shall include larger scientific society meetings, such as the Society for Neuroscience, the American Society for Cell Biology, or other similar venues. The exhibit shall encourage author/grantee participation in the unique identifiers initiative.

Task 2 – Onboarding NAMs Identification System

Begin integrating NAMs, with Year 1 focused on engaging cell repositories that use human-derived cells to create organoids, tissue models, and other clinically relevant systems. NAMs repositories will be incorporated alongside existing ORIP model resources. This dual approach will ensure continuity in supporting current biomedical research needs while aligning with the transition toward human-relevant methods that reduce reliance on animal testing.

The contractor shall:

a. Organize virtual multiple-day conference in year 1 to engage the NAMs community and build community consensus on standards for identifying NAMs;

b. Send invitations to a group of individuals from selected NAMs communities, publishers, repository managers, and experts from the Persistent Identifier open research community;

c. Facilitate group activities to reach consensus on the selection of a system for assigning unique identification tagging system to track the NAMs usage in scientific publications;

d. Prepare a post conference report and a paper for publication;

Task 3 – Analysis, Impact Assessment, and Rigor Evaluation of Model Organisms Distributed by ORIP-Supported Repositories

The contractor shall collect and analyze information on the use of research models in research publications and patents over the last 10 years, with a primary focus on models obtained from ORIP-supported repositories. Comparisons shall be made with models acquired from other sources, such as research laboratories and commercial vendors. Sources of information will include publication and patent databases, reports from ORIP-funded repositories, and catalogs from major U.S. animal model vendors.

All data shall be provided in interactive dashboards to enable visualization, analysis, and reporting by ORIP, other NIH ICOs and stakeholders. All data should be available in simple format file of all raw data.

3.1 Conduct analysis of publications/patents associated with the use of research models distributed by ORIP supported repositories

The contractor shall collect information on the use of research models in publications/patents for the last 10 years focusing on the use of research models and will determine how many of these models were obtained from ORIP supported repositories versus research laboratories/other major identifiable vendors, such as Jackson Laboratory or commercial vendors. The following sources of information will be used: publication and patent databases, reports from ORIP funded repositories, and catalogs of the major US model commercial vendors. Focus shall be on publications clearly stating the sources of research models. Data collected shall be used to conduct trend analysis. The use of models from ORIP supported resources shall be classified by research field/disease category (e.g., neuroscience, infectious disease, AIDS, reproductive biology, metabolic diseases, etc.).

The contractor shall conduct analysis of publications citing research models obtained from ORIP supported repositories in terms of rigor and reproducibility using text searches in the papers’ methods sections, which shall act as proxies for how rigorous the experiments are, and how easy it would be for other researchers to reproduce them. Results shall be compared with analogous results from similar analysis conducted using publications citing research models received from other sources.

3.2 Develop approaches to analyze overall basic research and translational impacts of research models obtained by the biomedical community from ORIP supported resources

The contractor shall develop impact assessment methods to evaluate overall basic research and the translational impact of the use of research models from ORIP supported resources.

Approaches used may include analysis of the publications and references in general, as well as clinically oriented journals, medical patents, and clinical trials, or informatics tools such as iCite (NIH). A meta-analysis of the collected data shall be conducted to provide an assessment of the benefits to the major categorical NIH ICOs (defined by ORIP). Other potential areas of impact, such as growth of collaborations, trans biological field interactions, assistance to young investigators etc.

shall be considered. The contractor shall add functionality for searching and reporting publications using animal models obtained from ORIP supported resources with high citation indexes, representing significant biomedical achievements or broad collaborative research efforts to the Dashboard

3.3 Developing a rigor and transparency index quality metric for assessing the use of research models.

The Contractor shall develop automated approaches to evaluate information available from repository and research articles associated with research models distributed by the MMRRC on their adherence to the key NIH rigor, transparency, and reproducibility criteria (https://grants.nih.gov/policy/reproducibility/index.htm) as a pilot project. This “index” shall allow comparison of research models for their utility in addressing scientific questions and ensure a comprehensive and unbiased process for validation of the models. The MMRRC will serve as the pilot project for the development of this index. The index and description of the criteria shall be shared with the MMRRC to improve selection and relevance of research models distributed from ORIP supported repositories. Once this metric index has been successfully developed, the contractor shall apply these metrics to other model resources in ORIP repositories.

Task 4 – Special Projects and Feature Development Services

4.1 ORIP may require the development of future undetermined feature(s), special project reporting, or analytics that will be identified by the needs of ORIP program staff, ICO collaborators, the biomedical research community, grantees, congressional inquiries or other stakeholders.

4.2 The Contractor must have the capability to procure related services such as hosting and cloud services that meet the Government IT standards, specialized equipment and software licenses as needed to support these tasks.

V. Deliverables All information collected and reports developed pursuant to this contract are the property of the U.S.

Government. The Contractor shall surrender any and all rights to its ownership and agrees to accept the terms and conditions of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52-227-14 Rights in Data—General (May 2014).

Deliverables will vary based on the specific needs of the activity. All deliverables must meet the requirements of the SOW and additional guidance provided by the COR.

https://grants.nih.gov/policy/reproducibility/index.htm

DELIVERABLE TIMEFRAME OF DELIVERY

Kick Off Meeting: The meeting will provide an introduction between the Government and Contractor personnel who will be involved with the contract performance. Additional topics for discussion at the Contract Kick-off Meeting include, at a minimum, technical, management, security issues, deliverables, and reporting procedures.

Within fifteen (15) calendar days of contract award

Quality Control Plan Updated within 30 days post award Services and analyses in accordance with this

SOW

Determined by task and mutually agreed upon

Dashboard: Addition of new Reporting Features During first year of award Dashboard: Addition of new Resources Annually Annual Summary Report on Statistics Every year from the time of award CSV or xml data Files Every year from the time of award Annual Progress Report (Only if owners not able to attend annual meeting)

Every year from the time of award

Documentation on metrics, algorithms or code developed

As developed and updated as needed

Other reports and communications as requested by the COR

Determined by task and mutually agreed upon

Monthly Status and Financial Reports detailing tasks worked on during the billing period and funding and invoicing periods respectively.

Typically submitted monthly and no later than

(30) thirty-days after the end of the month for each monthly submission.

Transition plan: In the event this contract is to be transitioned away from the Contractor, the Contractor shall provide all the necessary documents, materials, and other requested information to the COR to ensure a smooth and efficient transition of work to a new contract holder. The plan should identify a list of phase-out activities.

30 days prior to the end of the contract:

Final Progress Report: All data gathered, and code written as part of this contract shall be made available electronically. Curated data shall be covered under a CC-0 license to ensure maximum reuse by organism repositories or other users.

One month before the end of the contract

VI. Performance Evaluation The Government will monitor and evaluate the Contractor’s performance under this contract. The Contractor shall be evaluated in accordance with the Quality Assurance Plan. The Government’s surveillance plan shall not serve as a substitute for the Contractor’s QC plan. The Contractor’s performance shall be measured in accordance with performance metrics, which will include schedule, requirements, and performance. The Contractor shall be required to meet with the COR and the CO as often as necessary to discuss performance.

Interim and final evaluations of Contractor performance will be prepared on this contract in accordance with FAR 42.15 using the web-enabled application Contractor Performance Assessment Reports (CPARs). A CPAR assesses a contractor's performance and provides a record, both positive and negative, on a given contractor during a specific period of time. Each assessment is based on objective facts and supported by program and contract management data, such as cost performance reports, customer comments, quality reviews, technical interchange meetings, financial solvency assessments, construction/production management reviews, contractor operations reviews, functional performance evaluations, and earned contract incentives. The final performance evaluation will be prepared at the time of completion of work. In addition to the final evaluation, interim evaluations will be prepared annually to coincide with the anniversary date of this contract award. Copies of the evaluations, Contractor responses, and review comments, if any, will be retained as part of the contract file, and may be used to support future award decisions

VII. Period of Performance The anticipated period of performance for this requirement is one 11-month base period with four 12-month options:

Period of Performance:

Base Year: August 29, 2026 through August 28, 2027 Option Year 1: August 29, 2027 through August 28, 2028 Option Year 2: August 29, 2028 through August 28, 2029 Option Year 3: August 29, 2029 through August 28, 2030 Option Year 4: August 29, 2030 through August 28, 2031 Option periods shall be exercised at the sole discretion of the Government in accordance with FAR 17.207.

VIII. Place of Performance The Contractor shall perform services for this requirement from its place of operation using their own equipment. The Contractor shall be responsible for safeguarding any Government materials provided for Contractor use or under Contractor control which will be safeguarded from use by unauthorized persons.

IX. Transition Plan If necessary, a transition plan shall be developed no later than 30 days prior to the end of the contract. In the event this contract is to be transitioned away from the Contractor, the Contractor shall provide all the necessary documents, materials, and other requested information to the COR to ensure a smooth and efficient transition of work to a new contract holder. The plan should identify a list of phase-out activities.

The transition plan should outline the timeline and activities necessary to transfer maintenance and (re)development responsibilities of in progress projects and supported functions and processes to the new contract holder. Topics covered might include but are not limited to, as applicable, summary of project technical requirements, responsibilities and management practices, a list of managed resources, progress reporting, metrics, algorithms or code used, overview of license agreements, specialized tools used, documentation that drives, supports or expands supported systems or projects, training or certifications required. The plan will describe any external dependencies. Include any recommendations and costs for overlap of contractors that would be required for a successful transition.

CONTRACTING OFFICER’S REPRESENTATIVE (COR)

The following Contracting Officer’s Representative(s) (CORs) will represent the Government for the purpose of this Task Order:

COR: TBD at time of award

The COR is responsible for: (1) monitoring the Contractor's technical progress, including the surveillance and assessment of performance and recommending to the Contracting Officer changes in requirements;

(2) interpreting the SOW and any other technical performance requirements; (3) performing technical evaluation as required; (4) performing technical inspections and acceptances required by this Task Order;

and (5) assisting in the resolution of technical problems encountered during performance.

[The alternate COR is responsible for carrying out the duties of the COR only in the event that the COR can no longer perform his/her duties as assigned.]

The Contracting Officer is the only person with authority to act as agent of the Government under this Task Order. Only the Contracting Officer has authority to: (1) direct or negotiate any changes in the SOW; (2) modify or extend the period of performance; (3) change the delivery schedule; (4) authorize reimbursement to the Contractor for any costs incurred during the performance of this Task Order; (5) otherwise change any terms and conditions of this Task Order; or (6) sign written licensing agreements.

Any signed agreement shall be incorporated by reference in Provision 32.0, ATTACHMENTS, of this

SOW.

The Government may unilaterally change its COR designation.

NON-PERSONAL SERVICES AND INHERENTLY GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTION

Pursuant to FAR 37.1, no personal services shall be performed under this SOW. All work requirements shall flow only from the COR to the Contractor Project Manager. No Contractor employee will be directly supervised by the Government. All individual employee assignments, and daily work direction, shall be given by the applicable Contractor supervisor. If the Contractor believes any Government action or communication has been given that would create a personal services relationship between the Government and any Contractor employee, the Contractor shall promptly notify the Contracting Officer of this communication or action.

Pursuant to FAR 7.5, the Contractor shall not perform any inherently governmental actions under this SOW. No Contractor employee shall hold him or herself out to be a Government employee, agent, or representative. No Contractor employee shall state orally or in writing at any time that he or she is acting on behalf of the Government. In all communications with third parties in connection with this SOW, the Contractor employees shall identify themselves as Contractor employees and specify the name of the company for which they work. In all communications with other Government Contractors in connection with this SOW, the Contractor employee shall state that they have no authority to in any way change this SOW and that if the other Contractor believes this communication to be a direction to change their contract, the Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer for that contract and not carry out the direction until a clarification has been issued by the Contracting Officer.

The Contractor shall insure that all of its employees working under this SOW are informed of the substance of this article. Nothing in this article shall limit the Government’s rights in any way under the other provisions of this SOW, including those related to the Government’s right to inspect and accept the services to be performed under this SOW. The substance of this article shall be included in all subcontracts at any tier.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to ensure that the Contractor (1) is not biased because of its financial, contractual, organizational, or other interest which relate to the work under this Task Order, and

(2) does not obtain any unfair competitive advantage over other parties by virtue of its performance of this Task Order.

Scope: The restrictions described herein shall apply to performance or participation by the Contractor and any of its affiliates or their successors in interest (hereinafter collectively referred to as "Contractor") in activities covered by this article as a prime contractor, subcontractor, cosponsor, joint venture, consultant, or in any similar capacity. For the purpose of this article, affiliation occurs when a business concern is controlled by or has the power to control another or when a third party has the power to control both.

"Organizational conflict of interest" means that because of other activities or relationships with other persons, a person is unable or potentially unable to render impartial assistance or advice to the Government, or the person's objectivity in performing the contract work is or might be otherwise impaired, or a person has an unfair competitive advantage (FAR 9.501). An organizational conflict of interest may result when factors create an actual or potential conflict of interest on an instant contract, or when the nature of the work to be performed on the instant contract creates an actual or potential conflict of interest on a future acquisition (FAR 9.502(c)).

Because of the unusual nature of the work performed under this Task Order, and the fact that the Contractor will have access from time to time to sensitive Government information, and because some of the work will be performed in Government facilities, the Government must maintain a special, close relationship with the Contractor and the Contractor's personnel in various important areas.

The Contractor shall not use this privileged information or access to facilities to compete with the private sector.

The Contractor is required to conduct its business in a manner befitting its special relationship with the Government, to operate in the public interest with objectivity and independence, to be free from organizational conflicts of interest, and to have full disclosure of its affairs to the sponsoring agency.

The Contractor shall be ineligible to participate in any capacity in contracts, subcontracts, or proposals therefore (solicited and unsolicited) which stem directly from the Contractor's performance of work under this contract for a period of one (1) year after the completion of this Task Order, except as provided hereinafter.

If, under this Task Order, the Contractor prepares a complete or essentially complete statement of work or specifications to be used in competitive acquisitions, the Contractor shall be ineligible to perform or participate in any capacity in any contractual effort that is based on such statement of work or specifications. The Contractor shall not incorporate its products or services in such statement of work or specifications unless approved in writing by the Contracting Officer, in which case the restriction in this subparagraph shall not apply.

It is imperative that the Contractor be proactive in order to avoid organizational conflicts of interest. The Contractor shall take all reasonable measures to assure that organizational conflicts of interest do not occur. As part of the Contractor's efforts to avoid organizational conflict of interest situations, the Contractor shall inform the Government of any actual, potential, or apparent conflicts of interest. The

Contractor is responsible for providing a detailed written report of actual, potential, or apparent organizational conflicts of interest to the Contracting Officer as soon as the circumstance is known, describing the conflict and how the Contractor plans to resolve the problem.

Subcontracts: The Contractor shall include an article, substantially similar to this article, in subcontracts involving the performance of advisory and assistance services as that term is defined at FAR 37.201. The terms "contract," "contractor," and "contracting officer" shall be appropriately modified to preserve the Government's rights.

ELECTRONIC AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACCESSIBILITY HHSAR 352.239-74

(December 2015) 12

Pursuant to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973(29 U.S.C. 794d), as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, all electronic and information technology (EIT) supplies and services developed, acquired, or maintained under this Task Order must comply with the "Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board Electronic and Information Technology (EIT) Accessibility Standards'' set forth by the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (also referred to as the "Access Board'') in 36 CFR part 1194. Information about Section 508 is available at http://www.hhs.gov/web/508.

The complete text of Section 508 Final Provisions can be accessed at http://www.access-board.gov.

CONTINUITY OF OPERATIONS DURING A GOVERNMENT CLOSURE

The Contractor shall submit a plan entitled Continuity of Operations During a Government Closure to the COR for approval within 20 calendar days following an instruction from the COR to do so. The plan shall sufficiently specify what work tasks would be performed at non-Government location(s) (i.e., not a “Federally controlled facility”) during a closure and which the Contractor employees would be authorized to telework under the TELEWORK provision of this acquisition.

The Contractor shall implement its approved Continuity of Operations During a Government Closure plan when directed by the COR.

REPORTING MATTERS INVOLVING FRAUD, WASTE AND ABUSE

Anyone who becomes aware of the existence or apparent existence of fraud, waste and abuse in NIH funded programs is encouraged to report such matters to the HHS Inspector General's Office in writing or on the Inspector General's Hotline. The toll free number is 1-800-HHS-TIPS (1-800-447-8477). All telephone calls will be handled confidentially. The website to file a complaint on-line is:

http://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/hotline/ and the mailing address is:

US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General ATTN: OIG HOTLINE OPERATIONS P.O. Box 23489 Washington, D.C. 20026

RESTRICTION ON PORNOGRAPHY ON COMPUTER NETWORKS

The Contractor shall not use Contract funds to maintain or establish a computer network unless such network blocks the viewing, downloading, and exchanging of pornography.

CERTIFICATION OF FILING AND PAYMENT OF TAXES

The Contractor must be in compliance with Section 518 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of FY 2014.

http://www.access-board.gov/

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF FEDERAL FUNDING

The Contractor shall clearly state, when issuing statements, press releases, requests for proposals, bid solicitations and other documents describing projects or programs funded in whole or in part with Federal money: (1) the percentage of the total costs of the program or project which will be financed with Federal money; (2) the dollar amount of Federal funds for the project or program; and (3) the percentage and dollar amount of the total costs of the project or program that will be financed by nongovernmental sources.

Task 4 – Special Projects and Feature Development Services