Metabolomic Signature Underlying Motor and Cognitive Dual Decline in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging

Federal Business Opportunities (FBO)
SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE

1. Solicitation Number: HHS-NIH-NIDA-AG-19-122

2. Title: Metabolomic Signature Underlying Motor and Cognitive Dual Decline in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging

3. Classification Code: B504

4. NAICS Code: 541711

This is a Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of all qualified sources to perform a potential requirement.

This notice is issued to help determine the availability of qualified companies technically capable of meeting the Government requirement and to determine the method of acquisition. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotes. No award will be made as a result of this notice. The Government will NOT be responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice. This notice is strictly for research and information purposes only.

GENERAL INFORMATION
Title of Project: Metabolomic Signature Underlying Motor and Cognitive Dual Decline in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging

Statement of Need and Purpose:
The purpose of this requirement is perform metablomic assays on plasma samples collected from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) to examine the metabolomic signature underlying motor and cognitive dual decline and examine its relationship with subsequent mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

Background Information and Objective:
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by a progressive decline in memory and other impaired cognitive abilities ultimately affecting daily function. One of the earliest behavioral manifestations of AD includes poor performance in non-cognitive domains, such as slow gait1, but whether all individuals who develop AD experience gait decline before developing the cognitive outcome is little understood. Previous metabolomics studies suggest that metabolic dysregulation may be a sensitive, early marker of AD. We hypothesize that individuals who develop both cognitive and mobility problems in the clinical course to dementia represent a specific subgroup that develop AD, and they may be characterized by specific metabolic disorders that affect brain health and other aspects that negatively affect mobility.
The main goals of this proposal are 1) to identify phenotypic groups using preclinical motor and cognitive trajectories, and 2) to examine underlying metabolic profiles of motor- and cognitive-dual decliners that distinguish them from others. Our long-term goal is to extend early preclinical identification of high-risk individuals using a combination of early behavioral phenotypes and inexpensive biomarkers.

Period of Performance:
The period of performance for this contract will be one year 7/1/19 - 6/30/20.

SCOPE OF WORK
General Requirements:
Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the Government as needed to perform the Statement of Work below:

Specific Requirements:
The Contractor shall -
Perform metabolomic assays on 3021 human plasma samples collected in the BLSA, generate and report data.

LEVEL OF EFFORT:
A team of researchers required to complete plasma metabolomic assays and quality control (QC).

GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITIES
The government shall provide adequate quantities of archived plasma samples to the contractor to enable the performance of the metabolomic assay detailed above.

DELIVERY OR DELIVERABLES
The contractor shall provide an electronic copy of spreadsheet or database files incuding raw assay data and quantitative measurements of metabolites. The contractor shall also provide written documentation to describe any quality control and process of the data generated along with the codes that were used to conduct each of the QC and processing procedure.

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
The contractor shall submit via e-mail as PDF or a MS Word document a progress reports every month during the contract period. The progress report shall include tasks completed since submission of the last progress report and a list of tasks to be completed, inclusive of timeframe. This report shall also describe any problems that arose and state the resolution or provide an explanation if a solution was not identified.
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OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Travel:
N/A

Key Personnel:
The key personnel requirements for the senior researcher are as follows:
• A Masters or PhD in a laboratory science field
• Extensive experience in high throughput lab methods.

Information System Security Plan:
N/A

Capability statement /information sought. Capability statement /information sought. Contractors that believe they possess the ability to provide the requirement should submit documentation of their ability to meet each of the project requirements to the Contract Specialist. The response should directly and specifically state in the, capabilities statement, which project requirements you can supply. Contractors must also provide their Company Name, DUNS Number, Physical Address, Point of Contact, and Size and Type of Business (e.g., 8(a), HubZone, etc.) pursuant to the applicable NAICS code and any other information that may be helpful in developing or finalizing the acquisition requirements.

The information submitted must be must be in an outline format that addresses each of the elements of the project requirement and in the capability statement /information sought paragraphs stated herein.

The response must include the respondents' technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses.

All responses (capability statements) sent in response to this Sources Sought Notice must be submitted electronically (via e-mail) to the Contract Specialist. Facsimile responses are NOT accepted.

The response must be submitted to Jon Gottschalk, Contracting Officer at jon.gottschalk@nih.gov.

The response must be received on or before the response due date provided in this notice.

Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.

Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).

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