Risk Underlying Rural Areas Longitudinal (RURAL) H

The National Institutes of Health National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute seeks a contractor to establish and operate a Study Coordinating Center for the Risk Underlying Rural Areas Longitudinal (RURAL) Heart and Lung Study Expansion Cohort, with proposals due November 5, 2026. This is an Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity contract with a minimum value of $1,410,783.00 and a maximum of $16,209,115.00, covering 51 months from June 1, 2027 through August 31, 2031, structured across three task areas to be awarded as cost-reimbursement and/or firm-fixed-price task orders.

Place of performance is the Southern Plains region of the United States (Texas, Oklahoma, southern Kansas, eastern New Mexico, and southeastern Colorado), with administrative oversight at NHLBI in Bethesda, Maryland.

The contractor must recruit and clinically examine approximately 2,000 new participants ages 25–64 across 2–4 rural Southern Plains counties. Task Area A (Core Study Operations) comprises a 12-month base period plus three 12-month and one 3-month option period and requires establishment of a study coordinating center, community engagement activities, participant follow-up, clinical events ascertainment, data and biospecimen repository maintenance, and manuscript preparation. Task Area B (Participant Clinical Examination) consists of five non-severable task orders (four 12-month and one 3-month) requiring development of protocols, procurement and operation of mobile examination units with CT imaging capability for coronary artery calcification, inspiratory and expiratory lung imaging, and abdominal and thigh slice imaging, plus echocardiography, spirometry, biospecimen collection with DNA genotyping, and mHealth deployment. Task Area C (Study Closeout/Transfer) is an optional 3-month task order for study closure or transition activities.

Contractor must maintain compliance with NIH data sharing policies, Section 508 web accessibility standards, and NIST 800-53 information security requirements, with governance through an NHLBI-appointed Steering Committee and Observational Studies Monitoring Board. The contractor must provide English- and Spanish-speaking staff and materials, ensure all personnel are not committed to more than 100% of time across all federal grants and contracts, and maintain IRB oversight. Offerors must submit commitment letters from subcontractors, consultants, and non-staff personnel providing expertise and effort. Non-small business offerors must submit a subcontracting plan through the HHS Small Business Contracting Exchange (SBCX) system. A Proposal Intent Response Form is due September 1, 2026 at 3:00 PM EST; clarification questions are also due September 1 at 3:00 PM EST, with written responses issued by September 14, 2026. Amendment 0001, effective August 19, 2026, incorporated ten offeror questions and clarifications; no further responses will be issued. The NAICS code is 541715, Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences; PSC code is AN12, Health R&D Services.