SATPC0040304 Tab 04 4 SOW.pdf

Statement of Work for Animal Husbandry and Behavioral Testing Services for a NASA Human Research Program Research Project (January 2026)

A. Introduction/ Background The NASA Human Research Program funded project titled ‘Oxidative Stress and the Neuroconsequences of Spaceflight Environment - Immune Dysfunction and Dietary Countermeasure Efficacy’ involves a live-animal experiment that commenced in June 2025 with irradiations and other simulations of spaceflight at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL), a one-of-a-kind facility funded by NASA and operated by the U.S. Department of Energy. In December 2025, the animals were shipped from BNL to a specialized behavioral core facility at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) in Kansas City, Kansas for housing and behavioral testing. The animals are now 13 months old and approaching late middle age, as their predicted lifespan is 2-3 years.

This purchase request includes behavioral testing costs and per diem costs (i.e., housing costs) involving live animals being housed and behavioral testing at the University of Kansas Medical Center Rodent Behavior Facility. Specifically, the housing costs includes costs for food, water, caging materials, cage and room cleaning, and animal husbandry services by the attending veterinarian and certified support staff at a highly-competitive daily rate of approximately $1.10 per day per cage. We plan to house 109 cages of mice (housing 176 mice in total) for up to 4 months, plus costs for behavioral testing. This facility was selected as they have world-class expertise in neurological disease models and behavioral testing with rodents (KUMC’s Kansas Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center) and deep scientific experience with rodents experiencing spaceflight with the Rodent Research Program. We plan to assess the sensorimotor and cognitive behavior of aged male and female mice. In particular, the following tests are requested: SHIRPA phenotype assessment, Sociability and social memory, Force Plate Actimetry, Grip Strength, Beam Walk, Elevated Zero Maze, and Barnes Maze. The KUMC Behavioral Facility maintains renowned expertise in the Barnes Maze, a test where we strive to tease out subtle differences between male and female rodent following simulated spaceflight. Additionally, KUMC maintains a specialized lab and animal facility with expertise in spaceflight effects on rodents, as Prof. Lane Christenson was PI for the Rodent Research RR-20 mission. Hence, we plan to compare the effects from our experiments to true, gold standard effects of spaceflight. In sum, the KUMC Rodent Behavioral Facility is the only vendor that can successfully meet the requirements of this study.

This order is required to complete critical analyses of behavior of the mice following exposure to simulated microgravity, radiation, and isolation. These are factors that astronauts are expected to encounter during the NASA Artemis Mission planned to send the astronauts to the Moon and followed by eventual travel to Mars. These vertebrate subjects must meet numerous requirements to ensure that optimal scientific data will be derived from rare and costly spaceflight-analog experiments, including a multi-institution NASA Center of Research (VNSCOR).

This is mission critical work for NASA. NASA Human Research Program (HRP) selected this research project for inclusion in a Virtual NASA Specialized Center of Research (VNSCOR). The VNSCOR is a NASA-assigned consortium that includes Dr. Alwood (NASA - this project) and Dr. Larry Sanford (East Virginia Medical School). Collectively these three projects contribute to a single the HRP Path to Risk Reduction for the Behavioral Medicine Risk and Combined Behavioral Stressors project. The Principal Investigators have been charged by NASA with ensuring that experimental operations follow common procedures.

Therefore, it is vital that all specifications and treatment of mouse subjects are identical across labs since data generated by all VNSCOR teams will be integrated and submitted for simultaneous analysis in a single predictive computational model. A requirement of this team project is that, per NASA HRP, mice must be acquired from the same vendor, irradiated at the NSRL, and common behavioral assays performed. This is because vendor can be a confounding variable making comparisons across experiments difficult. The major goal of the VNSCOR is to eliminate extraneous sources of variability in experimental logistics, thus teams will follow identical procedures using identical animal subjects.

B. Requirement Specifications Technical requirements The animal husbandry services MUST meet the following specifications/capabilities:

1. Provides materials including caging, food (specifically Envigo Teklad 2014), water, bedding, and enrichment for mice.

2. Provides animal husbandry services including cage changes, cage cleaning, room cleaning, cage census, daily health check, veterinary services, among other critical services.

The following behavioral tests will be performed:

1. SHIRPA

2. Sociability and social memory

3. Force Plate Actimetry

4. Grip Strength

5. Beam Walk

6. Elevated Zero Maze

7. Barnes Maze

Time requirements

1. Funds should be delivered in a phased manner based on actual costs, approximately:

1. $33,402.50: Installment for behavioral testing

2. $14,388.00: Installment for animal housing costs for 4 months

Logistics requirements

1. Total cost of animal housing and behavioral testing must not exceed total.

2. University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) point of contact:

University of Kansas Medical Center Rodent Behavior Facility, 64-2015 3901 Rainbow Blvd, MS3051 Kansas City, KS 66160

D. Deliverables including the acceptance criteria (for determining whether or not the requirements are met)

Deliverables include:

1. Providing animal husbandry services and materials

2. Providing daily animal census

3. Providing program of veterinary care

4. Providing data and videography from battery of behavioral tests listed above

Acceptance criteria are:

mailto:tdarrow@kumc.edu

1. All Scientific requirements in Section B must be met.

2. All Logistics requirements must be met.

E. Period of performance (service) or desired delivery date (material or product)

1. This period of performance spans February 1 – May 31, 2026. Delivery of funds is requested to begin as soon as reasonably achievable.