AN11-- Research Support for the Boston VA Neuroscience Facility Pre-solicitation Notice with Intent to Sole Source

Presolicitation Notice of Intent to Sole Source

Pre-Solicitation Notice for notice of intent to award a sole source contract. This is not a solicitation. The Veteran s Administration (VA) Office of Research and Development, Regional Procurement Office East in Pittsburgh, PA intends to negotiate a sole source contract for a five (5) year base period with Boston University (BU), School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, located at 85 East Concord Street, Boston, MA 02118 to provide support for Boston s VA Healthcare systems Neuroimaging Research for Veterans (NeRVe) Center to operate complex neuroscience equipment, data acquisition, data analysis, conduct neuroscience training, provide neuroscience guidance/expertise, and assistance to investigators as needed through remote and onsite support.

Due to the technical expertise of the Boston University staff and the continued unique research collaboration required, support can only be provided by BU. This support provided by Boston University will enable the full range of capabilities for the Neuroscience Building to be leveraged by the VA Boston Healthcare System. The Neuroscience Building is a one of a kind neuroscience research capability within the Veterans Administration.

Boston University provides highly specialized expertise and maintains highly specialized equipment.

The VA investigators need to utilize this expertise for their on-going research and data analysis.

Neuroscience Service Support through BU is based upon the affiliate relationship between BU and the

Boston Healthcare System to provide needed yearly Continuity of Support for the Neuroscience Facility

through Boston University School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences for data acquisition, storage, analysis, journal publication, and neuroimaging training requirements. Scientific continuity of operations will be provided through remote and onsite support. Due to the precise expertise required by the VA, proximity, and existing affiliate relationship, they are the only vendor practical, without experiencing substantial duplication in costs or delays to VA research. Furthermore, since the Boston University is an academic affiliate, the VA is authorized to procure these services pursuant to 38 U.S.C. 8153.

Since the intent is to procure this on a sole source basis, no solicitation will be posted to FedBizOps (FBO). The award to any other source would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency s requirements. The applicable NAICS code is 541690 with a $19.0MIL size standard. The PSC is AN11. The authority for this action is FAR 6.302-5 Authorized or Required by Statute. Interested persons may contact the Contracting Officer via email at annmarie.stewart@va.gov regarding this procurement. The determination to conduct a competitive procurement based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Contracting Officer.