Pathology Peer Review and Pathology Suypport

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) intends to issue a solicitation in the form of a Request for Proposals (RFP) in accordance with the acquisition procedures of FAR Part 15 for the following objectives:

Provide ongoing and recurring support for pathology peer review of NTP studies. Peer review includes evaluation of pathology records, evaluation of the pathology diagnoses and comparison with the histological material, and evaluation of clinical pathology specimens and clinical pathology data. It is anticipated that the contractor will peer review up to studies per year, including chronic, subchronic, RACB, MOG, immunotoxicity, GMM, developmental neurotoxicity, and other studies.

Provide ongoing and recurring support for pathology evaluations for the Divisions of NTP (DNTP) and Intramural Research (DIR) projects: Pathology support projects include providing on-site staffing, necropsy services, histology services, special techniques (such as special tissue handling, histochemistry and immunohistochemistry), obtaining digital images, electron microscopy services (including electromicrograph evaluation), interpretation of molecular pathology data, training, assistance with manuscript preparation, and histopathology evaluation for NTP and NIEHS investigations. The contractor shall provide education to the investigators regarding issues identified during the study and pathology review. The contractor will perform up to 30 support projects per year.

Types of Studies Performed by the NTP which may require peer review and other pathology support include but are not limited to:

Chronic Studies: These studies are usually 2-year exposure studies.

Subchronic Studies: These studies are usually 90-day exposures but may be more or less depending on program needs.

Reproductive Assessment by Continuous Breeding (RACB) Studies: These studies usually include 3 exposure groups plus a control group.

Modified One-Generation (MOG) Studies: This is a new study design in which the offspring from the F0 generation (with exposure beginning in utero) are assigned to up to 5 cohort studies.

Immunotoxicity Studies: These studies generally include 5 exposure groups and positive and negative control groups with at least 8 animals per group, one species (typically mice), one sex (usually females), for a minimum of 56 animals per study.

Anticipated Period of Performance:
The anticipated start date for each of the two contracts is June 30, 2015.

It is anticipated that the base period for each of the two contracts shall be one year with nine one year options.