NMRC Market Research Memorandum_UMD._Signed.pdf

NAVAL MEDICAL RESEARCH CENTER SILVER SPRING

MARKET RESEARCH MEMORANDUM

FY ‘22 Page 1

• Date completed: May 19, 2023 RCP/PR Number:1301093697

Govt. Est. $87,104.00 NAICS Code 511714 Federal Product/Service Code AN12

Taxonomy of Services & Equipment Portfolio Group: N/A

1. Background:

NMRC has been awarded an interservice restoral award to assess strategies for mitigating loss of vision due to blast-related traumatic brain injury (bTBI). A significant number of service members (SM) experience blast exposures followed by impairment in visual function and visually guided behaviors. Low-level repeated blast exposures are of particular concern as they are a prevalent occurrence in SM not only during combat operations, but also in training exercises (e.g., artillery and breaching practice). Routine medical evaluations often fail to detect subtle signs of retinal injury as overt signs are often absent but can progressively worsen over time if left undetected and untreated.

There is an urgent medical need to develop drug therapies that can interrupt post-injury processes and spare blast-exposed SM vision loss.

2. Need:

Eye injuries, retinal damage and vision loss are prevalent features of blast exposure. Regardless of its extent, vision loss, presents a lifelong burden on SM, affecting performance and mission readiness. In the near term, the findings of this study will provide a knowledge platform for generation of a new approach to diagnosis of blast-induced visual deficits and informing policies related to operations of blast sources in training and in the field. In the long term, if effective, BDNF agonists (target drug) may be developed into a drug therapy for preventing loss of vision in exposed SM.

3. Approach Market Research Team members were Dr. Stephen Ahlers, Dr. Usmah Kawoos and Dr. Rania Abutarboush

NMRC investigators have stablished a CRADA with Dr. Mary Johnson, who is an expert vision scientist, to conduct research on evaluating the impact of repeated blast exposures on retinal damage and investigate the potential of using a compound (BDNF agonist) in mitigating blast-related vision decrement. Dr. Johnson is an Associate Professor and Director of the Visual Electrodiagnostics Laboratory at the University of Maryland (UMD), Baltimore, MD.

Market Research techniques utilized (check all that apply and describe your research/contacts):

Contacting knowledgeable individuals in Government and industry regarding market capabilities to meet requirements.

Reviewing the results of recent market research undertaken to meet similar or identical Requirements. (The contracting officer may use market research conducted within 18 Months before the award of any task or delivery order if the information is still current, accurate, and relevant.) Date of prior market research .

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Publishing formal requests for information in appropriate technical or scientific journals

FY ‘22 Page 3 or business publications.

Querying the Government-wide database of contracts and other procurement instruments intended for use by multiple agencies available at https://www.contractdirectory.gov/contractdirectory/ and other Government and commercial databases that provide information relevant to agency acquisitions.

Participating in interactive, on-line communication among industry, acquisition personnel, and customers.

Obtaining source lists of similar items from other contracting activities or agencies, trade associations or other sources.

Reviewing catalogs and other generally available product literature published by manufacturers, distributors, and dealers or available on-line.

_X Conducting interchange meetings or holding pre-solicitation conferences to involve potential offerors early in the acquisition process.

Number of vendors contacted: 0_

Meetings were conducted with Dr. Mary Johnson who has an established collaboration (with our mutual collaborators at WRAIR) and has published peer-review articles on the topic of bTBI and visual deficits in reputable journals. During our meetings, Navy relevant research ideas were discussed, and a study design was developed to submit as a proposal for restoral funding. Dr. Johnson is the inventor of a protocol that is critical for completing the proposed work. No other researcher, vendor or company can perform the work.

Summary of research

Dr. Johnson is a renowned vision scientist who specializes in clinical and preclinical applications of electrophysiology and psychophysics. She has developed techniques to study how diseases affect visual function and has done pioneering work on insights into the mechanisms of damage. She was elected a fellow of the Optical Society of America for her contributions and has held a number of leadership roles in this organization. She is also a fellow of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. Currently, she serves on the Board of Directors of the International Society for the Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision and is a member of the editorial board of its journal, Documenta Ophthalmologica. Her current studies include identifying occult retinal damage from traumatic brain injury, developing neuroprotective/neuroregenerative treatments in nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), and investigating a putative biomarker for Huntington’s disease, so that treatment trials can be run with more rigor. Dr. Johnson is an inventor of electroretinogram protocols to reflect an inhibitory neuron in the retina, and her protocols have determined that the response of this neuron is abnormal in traumatic brain injury. Her biosketch is available at https://www.medschool.umaryland.edu/profiles/Johnson-Mary/.

The NMRC restoral award proposal was developed in consultation with Dr. Johnson whose input was crucial in designing the study and being able to secure funding. Dr. Johnson is the inventor of a protocol that is critical for completing the proposed work.

Small Business Specialist Comments:

https://www.contractdirectory.gov/contractdirectory/ http://www.medschool.umaryland.edu/profiles/Johnson-Mary/

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NMRC will forward to SBC Office

Recommendations / Conclusions

I certify that this Market Research Memorandum is accurate and complete.

Dept. Head

AHLERS.STEPHEN.

THOMAS.1079104

Digitally signed by

AHLERS.STEPHEN.THOMAS.107

9104864 Date: 2023.05.19 12:11:55 -04'00'

Sign Name Here May 19, 2023 Print Name Here DR. STEPHEN AHLERS Date

SBS or SBA PCR signature Date

Technical POC/ Negotiator signature Date

CONTRACTING OFFICER APPROVAL

Contracting Officer Naval Medical Research Center

Contracting Officer

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