Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute

Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute, a tax-exempt nonprofit research organization and division of Hennepin Healthcare System Inc. (a Minnesota county-owned hospital system), operates as both a federal prime recipient and subcontractor across clinical research, biostatistics, data science, and translational medicine programs supporting NIH and HHS agencies. The Institute operates from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and competes in full-and-open procurements with no SBA set-aside profile.

The Institute's federal footprint centers on NIH extramural research grants and contract-supported clinical trials and epidemiological studies. Recent prime contract work includes a $7.999 million definitive contract from the Department of Health and Human Services (awarded March 21, 2026) to provide analytic support and biostatistics for the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) bridge contract through the Health Resources and Services Administration Division of Transplantation, working with subcontractors University of Washington and University of Nebraska Medical Center. A second major prime is a $14.852 million cost-reimbursable definitive contract from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (awarded March 8, 2024) for maintenance and updates to the United States Renal Data System (USRDS) Coordinating Center running through March 7, 2029, with research-site subcontractors including the Regents of the University of Minnesota, University of Washington, and UC San Francisco providing chronic kidney disease epidemiology and outcomes research expertise. A third representative prime is a $137,793 definitive contract from the Veterans Health Administration (awarded August 1, 2022) for tuberculosis clinical trial conduct in Minneapolis. The Institute also holds federally-funded research grants in cardiac, renal, infectious disease, and behavioral health domains, including a $661,037 NIAID grant (awarded May 1, 2026) investigating interleukin-15 cytokine therapy for malaria vaccine efficacy and a $198,600 NIAID K23 career development grant (awarded August 17, 2026) supporting a physician-scientist's research on tick-borne viral epidemiology.

Customer concentration runs heavily toward the National Institutes of Health. The top five funding entities account for 53 percent of total awards by count, with the National Institute for Minority Health and Health Disparities leading at 42 awards, the National Institute on Drug Abuse at 24 awards, and the National Institute on Aging at 22 awards. By potential dollar value, the distribution differs: the Health Resources and Services Administration Headquarters anchors 78 percent of combined potential value across just four awards ($98.6 million), with the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development each contributing $24–27 million. The Institute served 43 distinct customer agencies across its recent award footprint.

Activity has grown substantially year over year, from 14 awards in 2022 to a peak of 58 in 2024, followed by modulation to 22 in 2025 and 14 in 2026 year-to-date. Nine awards with a combined potential value of $8 million face ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months, creating near-term recompete exposure primarily in USRDS and SRTR line extensions. SCI-reported invoicing across federal service contracts above the $150,000 threshold shows relatively flat trajectory: $9 million in FY2022 across 38.5 FTEs, declining to $8.2 million in FY2023 across 31.2 FTEs, recovering to $8.9 million in FY2024 across 32.7 FTEs, and $9 million in FY2025 across 33.6 FTEs. On SCI-reportable prime contracts, the Institute self-performs approximately 95 percent of contractor hours, with subcontractors accounting for an average 5 percent share across 19 named sub relationships. Government-paid hourly rates on federal service contracts run a median of $125.24 per hour, with rates spanning the 10th percentile at $115.92/hr and 90th percentile at $133.87/hr.

The Institute operates as a balanced prime-and-sub vendor, with 48 percent of recent awards as prime (contracts, grants, and IDVs) and 52 percent as subcontract awards. Subcontractor roles span clinical trial site operations, research protocol execution, and specialized biostatistical or epidemiological support. Named prime contractors the Institute subcontracts to include American Institutes for Research in the Behavioral Sciences (on a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services evaluation task order for the Increasing Organ Access Transplant model), University of Pittsburgh–Commonwealth System of Higher Education (on the CAVALIER hemorrhagic shock resuscitation trial), University of Montana (on anti-opioid vaccine development studies), and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (on respiratory virus surveillance). Across its sub-grant portfolio, the Institute operates as a sub-recipient under NIH, CDC, and Defense Health Agency prime grants from university and hospital systems including Yale University, University of Minnesota, University of Washington, UC San Francisco, Northwestern University, The Miriam Hospital, and The Washington University.

Recent grant sub-awards illustrate the scope: a sub-recipient role under Yale on the Transitions Clinic Network Post-Incarceration Addiction Treatment study (awarded July 22, 2025), supporting opioid use disorder treatment cascade research and providing community health worker oversight; a sub-recipient role under University of Washington on fentanyl vaccine development for illicit drug abuse prevention (multiple sub-awards including April 11, 2024, and July 17, 2025); and sub-recipient participation in NIH research training and learning health system initiatives through Regents of the University of Minnesota, including the Center for Chronic Disease Reduction and Equity Promotion Across Minnesota (C2DREAM) and the Senolytics to Slow Progression of Sepsis (STOP-Sepsis) trial. The Institute also receives sub-awards under federally-supported clinical networks such as the NIDA Clinical Trials Network, where it operates the Northstar Node providing site administration, regulatory support, and research coordination for substance use disorder trials.

The Institute's capability portfolio spans epidemiology and population health data science, biostatistics and outcomes research, clinical trial design and conduct, translational medical research, and health disparities research with focus on vulnerable populations. Its federal customer base reflects these strengths: dominant funding from NIH extramural research programs, particularly NIDDK, NIDA, NIA, and NIAIDS, with secondary support from HRSA for transplant registry management and the Defense Health Agency for military medical research.