Strong Heart Study (SHS) Renewal - Coordinating Center (CC)

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health, intends to solicit a coordinating center contractor for the Strong Heart Study renewal, with an RFP expected to post to SAM.gov approximately 15 calendar days after the October 15, 2026 presolicitation notice date. Responses to this presolicitation close October 30, 2026. Anticipated award is on or about November 15, 2027, for a ten-year period of performance.

Place of performance is not location-restricted; work supports a longitudinal observational epidemiological study of cardiovascular disease in American Indian populations.

The contractor will manage three cohorts: an existing Legacy Cohort recruited in 1989–1991, a Family Study cohort recruited in 1998–1999, and a new cohort requiring recruitment and baseline examinations. Core responsibilities include implementing a data management system and distributing research-ready data to approved investigators; maintaining biorepositories and image repositories; obtaining Medicare claims data; conducting quality control and statistical analyses; preparing publications; and managing an Observational Studies Monitoring Board. The contractor must support two re-examinations of Legacy Cohort participants and one baseline examination of the new cohort, including recruitment, informed consent, blood pressure and anthropometry measurements, phlebotomy, and questionnaires.

The contractor will implement four community-based pilot research projects (2.5 years each via task order) and ten annual summer research immersion programs for high school students (12 months each via task order). The contractor must mentor and provide training to at least twenty junior investigators and twenty community members, and support Tribal and community engagement activities.

NAICS 541715; PSC AN12. No set-aside. Contracting Officer: Jonathan Lear, john.lear@nih.gov.