CONSULTANT REQUIREMENT - EDUCATIONAL

Subject: CONSULTANT REQUIREMENT - EDUCATIONAL THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) OR A REQUEST FOR QUOTATIONS (RFQ); IT IS STRICTLY A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI). NEITHER UNSOLICITED PROPOSALS NOR ANY OTHER KINDS OF OFFERS WILL BE CONSIDERED IN RESPONSE TO THIS RFI. NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED PURSUANT TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. 1.0 DISCLAIMER: This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation. Neither unsolicited proposals nor any other kind of offers will be considered in response to this RFI. Responses to this notice are not offers and will not be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked Proprietary will be handled accordingly. Responses to the RFI will not be returned. At this time, questions concerning the composition and requirements for a future RFP will not be entertained. 2.0 SUBJECT: The Division of Medicine, U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) is conducting market research to assess commercial availability of subject matter experts (SME) on national security issues and the detection, diagnosis, reporting, (DDR) and prevention of health threats that result from novel, emergent, or man-made diseases for the Defense Threat Reduction Program (DTRA) Cooperative Biological Engagement Program (CBEP) effort at USAMRIID. The fielded capabilities must meet or exceed the specifications listed below. In-line with the above goal, the Division of Medicine wishes to obtain information from commercial sources who possess candidate SME capable of meeting these requirements; either in current state or in the near future. 3.0 Background: Currently there is a USAMRIID requirement for subject matter expertise to identify and validate CBEP-related capacity needs for partner countries and to develop implementation plans and One Health curricula for CBEP-funded work in three partner countries in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and/or Europe. To help meet this requirement, we are looking for the provision of subject matter expertise to meet all of the following requirements: Based on the use of an analytical methodology with recognized, measurable parameters that address the key concepts, attributes, goals and objectives of CBEP, previously developed and utilized by the candidate SME 1) conduct One Health clinician (human and veterinary) training and clinical laboratory training program gap assessments, 2) develop corresponding training strategies and curricula, and 3) develop corresponding capacity building plans, for three CBEP partner countries. The gap assessments shall assess partner country inter-ministerial training programs, as they relate to effective One Health clinician, veterinarian, and laboratory DDR of pathogens of security concern (PSCs). The deliverables shall include identification of capability gaps and the recommendation of near- and long-term actions to address those gaps and will address One Health concerns and provide the partner countries tailored training strategies and curricula to build health care professional capabilities and capacity to facilitate effective outbreak response. For each partner country, the deliverable training strategies and curricula will address key concepts that underpin the DDR of PSCs. The deliverables will include capacity building plans that will provide partner country specific context that address specific, disease-related, factors that will influence the partner country approach to effective disease surveillance and DDR. (1) The training strategy for each partner country shall translate high-level policy for DDR of PSCs into goals and objectives to achieve specific courses of action for clinicians, veterinarians, laboratorians and the associated public health, outbreak response or incident response teams. The plan shall establish effective linkages between the sectors relevant to disease surveillance and DDR to ensure a harmonized and integrated approach and present a framework for collaboration with all partner country stakeholders. (2) The capacity building plan for each partner country shall clearly describe what training needs to be accomplished and when and how to do it. In particular, it will address the incremental actions required to apply a new harmonized and integrated approach to disease surveillance and DDR. The plan shall define the roles and responsibilities, the timeframe and resources required, and indicators to monitor and evaluate progress towards the mutually agreed goals. The plan will develop health practitioner/laboratorian skills for PSCs with respect to: - Maintaining a high index of suspicion - Taking an adequate patient history/medical documentation - Stringent infection control techniques - Laboratory diagnostic techniques - Early disease reporting 4.0 Response Instructions: Respondents should address the following in their capabilities statement: By furnishing a deliverables development plan demonstrating realistic and attainable timelines and cost for the development of the candidate assessments, training strategies, curricula and capacity building plans.