DES Moines University Osteopathic Medical Center

DES Moines University Osteopathic Medical Center, doing business as DES Moines University, is a private non-profit medical and health sciences university based in West Des Moines, Iowa, that operates as a prime recipient of federal contracts and grants from the Department of the Navy and the National Institutes of Health, with no set-aside designations across its federal footprint.

DES Moines University's contract portfolio centers on tuition and fees delivery orders issued by the Department of the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery to support graduate-level medical education and training of naval personnel in osteopathic medicine and health sciences fields. Recent contract awards include a $327,578 delivery order from the Department of the Navy issued February 2, 2026, for tuition and fees (completion June 1, 2026), a $323,772 delivery order awarded January 2, 2025 (completion May 30, 2025), and a $348,602 delivery order awarded May 1, 2024 (completion December 31, 2024). All tuition and fees delivery orders are firm fixed price with no set-aside applied and place of performance in Des Moines, Iowa. These awards issue against the university's indefinite-delivery contract vehicle (N0014002GL723), which carries 66 task orders and $11.3 million in combined potential value.

Customer concentration is heavily weighted to Navy demand. The Department of the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery accounts for 61 awards valued at $10 million in combined potential value, and the Department of the Navy (as distinct contracting agency) accounts for 23 awards valued at $1.2 million — together representing the vast majority of the university's contract footprint. The top five customers by award count account for 67 percent of recent awards. The Air Force maintains 10 awards, and the Department of Veterans Affairs carries 4 awards. The university also holds task orders under a Basic Ordering Agreement with the Air Force (F3360076A0376, 10 task orders) and additional BOAs with the Navy.

Federal grant work spans biomedical research and education infrastructure. DES Moines University holds a $317,960 National Science Foundation project grant awarded September 1, 2025 (completion August 31, 2028, CFDA 47.041) for acquisition and integration of a 3D motion capture system for graduate STEM research and education. NIH-funded grants include a National Heart Lung and Blood Institute project grant awarded May 6, 2024 (completion April 30, 2027) for development of a novel vasorelaxing peptide targeting endothelial nitric oxide production; a National Institute of Justice project grant awarded January 1, 2024 (completion December 31, 2026) for forensic anthropology research on saw mark analysis in criminal dismemberment cases; a National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism project grant awarded September 1, 2023 (completion August 31, 2026) for research on glutamate receptor regulation of structural plasticity in ethanol exposure; and a National Cancer Institute project grant awarded August 16, 2021 (completion July 31, 2025) examining branched-chain aminotransferases in T cell anti-lymphoma immunity. The university received an NIH Office of the Director project grant in August 2022 for purchase of an autoclave for its shared biomedical research facility. The university also acts as a sub-recipient on two federal grants: a sub-award under the University of Cincinnati (September 2, 2025) for peripheral blood mononuclear cell processing research, and a sub-award under Indiana University's Trustees (March 14, 2025) supporting NSSHB Advisory Board coordination. Within the past five years (2022–2026), the university received an average of roughly 3.4 awards annually, with modest variation year to year. Only two awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, posing minimal near-term recompete exposure.