Research Triangle Institute

Research Triangle Institute, doing business as RTI International, is a nonprofit research organization headquartered in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, that delivers research, evaluation, data collection, technical assistance, and program implementation services to federal agencies as a prime contractor across health, environmental, education, justice, and international development domains. RTI competes full-and-open across federal contracts and grants without pursuing set-aside categories; the organization operates at scale—8,220 prime awards across 324 customer agencies with a combined potential value of $128.97 billion—and holds multiple indefinite delivery vehicles, including a $151 billion SHIELD IDIQ with the Missile Defense Agency, a $90 million STREAMS V vehicle with EPA, and a $70 million FDA Quick Turnaround Social Science Research Services BPA.

RTI's concrete capability footprint spans epidemiological and health survey implementation (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, in-center hemodialysis CAHPS survey implementation, National Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Study data collection); regulatory support and environmental analysis (metals, minerals, and energy sector compliance analysis, air quality modeling, chemical safety assessment); criminal justice program evaluation (Federal Bureau of Prisons literacy program evaluation, plea bargaining data tracking, deflection program effectiveness studies); workforce and education initiatives (registered apprenticeship program development, educator professional development, survey research); and specialized pharmaceutical and chemical research (drug synthesis and distribution, small molecule compound optimization, high-throughput toxicokinetics assay development). Recent representative contract work includes a $54.3 million AHRQ Medical Expenditure Panel Survey prime covering five-year data collection operations, a $35.9 million IES delivery order for the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:28) running through June 2033, an $82.6 million CDC contract for National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data collection through April 2027, and a $26.3 million Administration for Children and Families delivery order for the State and National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being Services under the OASIS indefinite delivery vehicle. RTI also holds significant environmental and regulatory work—a $51.5 million EPA Metals, Minerals, and Energy Sectors Regulatory Support Services BPA through July 2030 with multiple active task orders ($9.0 million for oil and natural gas sector support, $2.3 million for combustion equipment rulemakings, $894,370 for Clean Air Act rulemaking outreach)—and substantial grant funding across NIH institutes, USAID, and other agencies.

Customer concentration is moderate. The top five customer agencies by potential value account for 24% of combined potential value: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ($13.85 billion, 179 awards), EPA Office of Air and Radiation ($7.06 billion, 300 awards), USAID ($4.46 billion, 194 awards), CDC Office of Acquisition Services ($3.57 billion, 356 awards), and CDC Pittsburgh ($2.02 billion, 370 awards). By award count, EPA leads with 1,374 awards, followed by CDC Pittsburgh (370) and CDC Office of Acquisition Services (356), reflecting RTI's deep engagement in environmental and public health missions. Award activity has grown from 206 prime awards in 2022 to 260 in 2024, then declined to 142 in 2025 and 43 year-to-date in 2026, reflecting the lag in source data currency; this trajectory includes both the maturation of large multiyear vehicles and the natural flow of option period exercises and new procurement cycles.

RTI's vehicle footprint is extensive and strategically important. Beyond the headline IDIQs and BPAs noted above, the vendor holds significant seats on Mission Oriented Business Integrated Services (MOBIS, 499 task orders, $1.17 billion), the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (407 task orders, $9.89 billion combined), and multiple NIH and HHS IDIQs including the Research, Measurement, Assessment, Design, and Analysis (RMADA) 3 vehicle ($3.5 billion ceiling awarded July 2026 for CMS ACA model and demonstration analytics). RTI also participates in One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) vehicles with strong task order activity across HHS agencies, demonstrating principal contractor posture rather than secondary seat holdings.

On federal services contracts captured in the Service Contract Inventory, RTI reported $1.16 billion in invoiced revenue across FY2022–FY2024, with FY2024 invoicing reaching $431.1 million across 960 FTEs. This represents only service contracts above the $150,000 reporting threshold and excludes goods, products, and non-federal revenue; it is substantially smaller than RTI's total federal footprint, which includes large goods procurement (e.g., research materials), classified programs, and grant administration. The SCI workforce trajectory shows modest growth from 874 to 960 FTEs year-over-year. Government-paid hourly rates on prime services contracts span $87–$734 per hour, with a median around $191/hour, reflecting a portfolio of field staff and senior research professionals. Across SCI-reported prime contracts, subcontractors perform approximately 5% of total contractor hours; RTI employs 298 named subcontractors across its service contract portfolio, indicating a primarily-build-your-own-team delivery model rather than heavy sub-reliance. Recent named subs include Westat Inc. and Social & Scientific Systems Inc. (data collection and statistical support on the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey), Impaq International LLC (program evaluation for Federal Bureau of Prisons literacy programs), and Research Support Services (multilingual language research support for the Census Bureau).

RTI's subcontractor footprint shows selective prime relationships. As a subcontractor, RTI works under Booz Allen Hamilton (DoD data modernization), Battelle Memorial Institute (CBRN defense R&D), and Industrial Economics Inc. (EPA resource conservation economics). The vendor is more commonly a prime than a sub, reflecting its scale and institutional maturity.

RTI's grant footprint is substantial and diverse. The vendor acts as prime recipient on NIH project grants for substance use disorder research (fentanyl vaccine development, opioid receptor antagonists, court navigator intervention studies), maternal and child health research (stillbirth research consortium data coordinating center, bronchopulmonary dysplasia clinical trials), mental health and neuroscience initiatives (multi-omic analysis of alcohol use disorder, social media screening methodologies), and infectious disease epidemiology. Recent federal grant recipients include NIDA ($2.56 million for Oregon deflection programs evaluation, $636,838 for medical examiner toxicology triage assessment), NIMH ($776,566 for HIV stigma reduction in Tanzania, $921,386 for youth social media and mental health research), NIJ (multiple criminal justice evaluation grants totaling millions), and USAID ($25.0 million for Strengthening Primary Education Resilience in Ethiopia, $32.67 million Food for Progress cooperative agreement for agricultural development). RTI also serves as a grantmaker under EPA's Thriving Communities Grantmaker Program, administering $95 million in Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant pass-through funding to eligible entities in EPA Regions 4–7.

The corporate structure includes four named subsidiaries: Research Triangle Institute International LLC (nonprofit), Research Triangle Institute Global India Private Limited (for-profit international operations), Masimax Resources Inc., and International Resources Group Ltd. (for-profit international development). Subsidiary names signal capabilities in global and international development programming—consistent with the large USAID footprint and capacity-building work documented in RTI's grant and contract portfolio.

RTI maintains a GSA Schedule offering 47 active labor categories spanning $56–$495 per hour, from entry-level interviewer roles through senior advisor positions requiring a doctorate and 16 years of experience. No security-cleared labor is offered on the GSA Schedule. The breadth of labor categories reflects the organization's multidisciplinary workforce capacity: field interviewers, project specialists, analytics professionals, technical experts, and senior advisors across health, environmental, and social science domains. Recompete exposure in the next twenty-four months totals 214 awards with $1.09 billion in combined potential value, representing a manageable but non-trivial renewal load concentrated in long-standing customer relationships with EPA, CDC, CMS, and HHS.