Wake Forest University Health Sciences

Wake Forest University Health Sciences, a private nonprofit academic medical center based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, operates as a prime contractor and recipient delivering large-scale biomedical research, clinical services, and military medical training to federal agencies across the National Institutes of Health, the Defense Health Agency, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Defense. As a child entity of Wake Forest University, the health sciences operation manages 2,318 total awards (74% prime, 26% sub) valued at $10.83 billion in combined potential value, with $4.29 billion currently obligated across 114 distinct federal customer agencies—a portfolio anchored by high-value research IDIQs with the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and substantial military medical research funding from the Defense Health Agency.

The institution's capability portfolio centers on three core areas. First, large-scale longitudinal cardiovascular and aging research: as coordinating center and field site operator for the Jackson Heart Study ($49.5 million single-award IDIQ through 2035) and the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis ($55.5 million through 2034), Wake Forest manages core study operations, participant recruitment and retention, data management, and statistical analysis across multi-site networks serving diverse populations. Second, biomedical research spanning neuroscience, oncology, aging biology, and immunology: recent examples include a $3.157 million National Institute on Aging grant examining caloric restriction effects on aging biomarkers and frailty, a $2.402 million National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute project mapping molecular conversion of normal coronary artery tissue to atherosclerotic plaque, and a $2.55 million National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism award investigating the insula-BNST neural circuit's role in alcohol use disorder. Third, combat and tactical medical training: under Blanket Purchase Agreements with Air Forces Europe and Africa and Air Combat Command valued at up to $2 million and $644 thousand respectively, Wake Forest delivers live tissue training, combat medicine and technical rescue specialist instruction, full mission profile training, and paramedic preparation for active-duty rescue squadrons and specialized units. The institution also provides specialized clinical services, including board-certified orthopedic and interventional cardiology physicians to the Department of Veterans Affairs through multi-million-dollar service contracts (orthopedic surgery $5.86 million, invasive/interventional cardiology $4.94 million, both through 2035).

Customer concentration is bifurcated by dollar value and award count. The National Institutes of Health dominates by award frequency, accounting for approximately 50% of recent awards across multiple institutes—the National Institute on Aging leads with 303 awards, followed by the National Cancer Institute (182), the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (171), and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (106). However, by potential value, the Defense Health Agency anchors the portfolio at $10.01 billion (97% of combined potential value) across 87 awards, reflecting substantial military medical research funding for topics including jet fuel exposure biomarkers, orthopedic trauma recovery optimization, combat-related proliferative vitreoretinopathy, and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy prevention. This divergence—high NIH award count paired with high-value DHA concentration—signals both sustained base research funding and recent major defense research investments that will face recompete across 229 awards (combined potential value $39.2 million) reaching completion in the next twenty-four months.

Wake Forest operates through several parent vehicles. The VA single-award IDIQ for orthopedic and cardiology services (VA79113D0032) generates 19 task orders totaling $63.8 million; the Air Forces Europe and Africa BPA for combat medicine training (FA486116AA004) carries $644 thousand across 10 calls; and the Drug Enforcement Administration BPA (15DDHQ22D00000011) supports clinical services at $2.5 million across 5 task orders. These vehicles position the institution as both a sustained clinical services provider to the VA health system and a specialized medical training source for combatant command operations.

The federal grant portfolio reflects Wake Forest's recognition as a leading research medical center. The National Institute on Aging has awarded the institution $2.658 million for the POINTER Neurovascular study extension (measuring long-term sustainability of multidomain lifestyle intervention effects), $1.31 million for unacylated ghrelin and endurance exercise synergy research in sarcopenia, and $3.157 million for caloric restriction effects on aging biomarkers. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has funded $881 thousand for the SUPERHERO Registry examining barriers to guideline-based pediatric hypertension care, $665 thousand for the ASPIRE self-measured blood pressure monitoring implementation trial, and $2.402 million for atherosclerotic plaque molecular mapping. The National Cancer Institute supported $526 thousand for deep learning models predicting immunotherapy response in gastric cancer, $513 thousand for peritoneal recurrence prediction in gastric cancer, and a Cancer Research Manpower grant funding the Qualitative Training Institute for Enhancing Cancer Research. The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) awarded $13.43 million for bioprinted vascularized autologous renal tissue constructs—a flagship regenerative medicine initiative. The National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute on Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health Office of the Director, and other NIH components fund investigator-initiated research across addiction neuroscience, infectious disease countermeasures, and precision health applications. Recent Defense Health Agency grants total $2.2 million for the SEXTANT antibiotic protocol study in severe open fractures, $1.799 million for PEDF-enriched exosomes improving urethral sphincter function after prostatectomy, and $1.481 million for intraosseous antibiotic delivery research.

As a prime research institution, Wake Forest subcontracts extensively. Named subs across grant awards include the Regents of the University of Michigan (single-cell genomic analysis and neurotransmitter detection support), the University of Texas at San Antonio (demographic study epidemiology), the Johns Hopkins University (clinical outcomes evaluation and translational neuroscience), Duke University (various brain health and implementation studies), Columbia University (kidney transplant genetics, intracerebral hemorrhage coagulation analysis, extracellular vesicle metal analysis), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (longitudinal health outcomes research), Northwestern University (peripheral artery disease intervention trials), and North Carolina State University (mouse behavioral and motor function testing for DHA-related studies). Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, the institution delivered approximately 4.2 FTEs in FY2025 (up from 2.1 FTEs in FY2024), suggesting modest scale in service-contract labor delivery relative to research operations.

Wake Forest University Health Sciences competes predominantly in full-and-open procurements without set-aside designations. Its award portfolio reflects no 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, or other small-business set-aside categories; rather, the institution qualifies as an educational entity and academic medical center eligible for both NIH research funding (through standard peer-review mechanisms) and federal health services contracting. Corporate structure includes 20 named subsidiaries, primarily dialysis centers (Miller Street, Triad, Thomasville, Salem Kidney Center, Mount Airy, Yadkin, Piedmont, North Randolph, Lexington, and others), which expand the health sciences footprint beyond research into specialized clinical service delivery. This subsidiary network underpins the institution's capacity to execute clinical services contracts and support patient-level research operations across multiple sites and service lines.