Data Management for LEPS Longitudinal Cohorts

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The solicitation number is HHS-NIH-NIDA-SSSA-RFQ-2016-720 and the solicitation is issued as a Request for Quote (RFQ). This acquisition is for a commercial item or service and is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13-Simplified Acquisition Procedures; FAR Subpart 13.5-Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items; and FAR Part 12-Acquisition of Commercial Items, and is not expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold. The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-89-1 dated August 15, 2016.. The associated NAICS code 541690 and the small business size standard $15,000,000.00. This requirement is full and open with no set aside restricitions. As part of the NIA intramural program, the Laboratory of Epidemiology and Population Sciences (LEPS) has a variety of responsibilities, including: - Planning, conducting, and directing epidemiology and population studies relevant to the mission of the NIA - Planning, initiating, coordinating, and analyzing local, national and international epidemiologic longitudinal studies and studies of special populations, and - Planning and directing research and training in the areas of epidemiology and population studies of the elderly, thereby serving as a primary federal source of information in these areas. To meet these responsibilities, the LEPS, in collaboration with NIA staff and that of other Institutes, federal agencies and scientific organizations, and universities conducts many population-based studies on the older population. The study involved in this contract is the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study (AGES-RS). AGES-RS was established collaboratively with the Icelandic Heart Association (IHA). It began in 2002 with AGES, a re-examination of about 6,000 subjects born between 1907 and 1935 who had been previously examined in the Reykjavik Study beginning in 1967. Goals of AGES-RS include identifying genetic and other risk factors for diseases and conditions of aging; characterizing new phenotypes for these diseases in order to study them in relation to gene function and genetic/environmental interactions; and identifying molecular markers contributing to these diseases. A considerable number of assessments are included in AGES-RS, such as: health and lifestyle questionnaires; brain MRIs with measurement of infarcts; abdomen and thigh CTs; electrocardiograms; two large batteries of cognitive tests; strength and balance tests; detailed eye and hearing exams; spirometry; anthropometry; bioimpedance; and laboratory assays. Data collection at IHA involves data entry into numerous Oracle tables with subsequent translation into SAS datasets. Baseline (AGES) and follow-up (AGES II) data collection are now complete; however, IHA has recently sent to LEPS some 79 tables from the OFFGENT8 Study, which is the study of offspring of subjects with Alzheimer's disease as identified in AGES exams. The OFFGENT8 data need to be edited, reviewed and organized into SAS data sets similar to those for AGES and AGES II. There is also the possibility that NIA will receive from IHA data from one or more small ancillary studies during the time period in which the contractor is working on OFFGENT8. PURPOSE OR OBJECTIVE OF THE REQUIREMENT The purpose of this requirement is to provide LEPS with computer-programming services to assist in the management of data that have been collected by IHA, specifically the OFFGENT8 component of the AGES Study. The contractor might also manage data from a few AGES ancillary studies, should these data arrive at LEPS during the period of performance of the contract. The objective of this procurement is to provide Contractor assistance in the areas of research data management, quality control, and data analytic support (e.g., simple frequencies and descriptive tables). This contract is intended to create a close-working, efficient, highly productive team. CONTRACTOR REQUIREMENTS (SCOPE OF WORK) Data management tasks to be performed: The data management tasks involve developing or enhancing resource database files, specifically managing the OFFGENT8 data, using as a guide the SAS datasets from the AGES and AGES II components of the AGES Study. The contractor shall load the OFFGENT8 data into SAS datasets. There are 79 SAS datasets altogether in OFFGENT8; the total number of variables is about 3,000. Once datasets have been created, the contractor shall edit the data, providing reports of problems to the COR and IHA. Should IHA send any small ancillary study data to NIA during the period of performance of the contract, the contractor will load these data into SAS datasets and edit them, also. Data management involves retrieval of the data, data editing, and creation of databases. Some work on documentation is possible, though unlikely. The resulting databases and documentation will be used by LEPS staff and guest researchers. Data management tasks will generally be executed off-site on Contractor computers. Exceptions would be those that involve confidential data that must remain at NIA, small requests that would be more efficiently performed at NIA, or complex requests that involve close coordination with other development efforts at NIA. For work executed off-site, the Contractor employee assigned to the position of Project Manager on this contract will identify the datasets needed, copy the datasets to a transportable medium such as an encrypted CD, DVD or flash drive, or transfer via NIH's secure FTP server, and install the files on the Contractor's LAN. Transfer of data may also be done electronically, such as through NIH secure e-mail, so long as authorized encryption techniques are used to protect the data. A secure data directory will be created on the Contractor's LAN with access limited to project staff. Once the request is completed, the newly created or updated files and accompanying documentation will be moved back to NIA. The Contractor will destroy the source files on the Contractor's LAN and on the transportable media at the end of the period of performance unless directed otherwise by the COR. The Contractor will inspect any new data acquisition, scan it for viruses and other malicious software, and verify readability of the data. Validation procedures will be run and results compared with documentation that came with the delivery. In most cases, data will be converted to SAS Version 8/9 format datasets. SAS transport files will be converted using the CIMPORT or COPY procedures. ASCII files will be converted using SAS INPUT, LENGTH, and LABEL statements. Data management tasks will be executed primarily on PCs using SAS for Windows. PCs must be suitable for this purpose, with sufficient clock speed, RAM and hard disk size to accommodate multiple large ASCII files and SAS datasets, some of which could exceed 10 megabytes in size. Most applications will involve programming in Base SAS and SAS/Stat. Data management tasks will include, but will not be limited to, data editing such as examining variables for missing, invalid or out of range values, performing skip pattern checks and checks for logical consistency, reporting ambiguous or uninformative variable labels, and creating or modifying SAS databases. Programs may also be requested to correct errors found in existing datasets. On occasion, data values might need to be manipulated to address missing or incorrect data values. The Contractor would be expected to work with the Government to ascertain the most appropriate method of dealing with these and other data related issues. In all situations requiring creation or modification of SAS datasets, the Contractor should strive to make them as user-friendly and self-documenting as possible within the limits of their knowledge of the study. Self-documentation would include careful attention to variable formats and labels. Variable labels should incorporate useful details, such as units of measure where relevant. The Contractor might also be required to create or enhance separate data documentation (in Microsoft Word) to accompany the SAS analytic files. The Contractor must process raw data and either create SAS datasets for analytic use or explain why did it is not possible to do so (e.g., gross problems with the raw data) in a timely manner, so that LEPS researchers can begin using the data to work on research projects as soon as possible. A turn-around time not to exceed one month from receipt of a raw input file to the completion of the analytic dataset is expected. Data management performed in the course of this contract primarily will be for the AGES OFFGENT8 Study. Raw input data from AGES will arrive at LEPS as SAS version 9 files. Therefore, detailed knowledge of SAS is imperative. Programming experience in Oracle, though not essential, is desirable, since AGES data in the raw input files were originally stored in Oracle tables before conversion into SAS, and IHA documentation describes the data in terms of Oracle tables. As necessary, the Project Manager and the COR will discuss progress on data management tasks; the Project Manager will also write a summary of progress on data management tasks for the monthly activity report. This report should include, but not be limited to, a description of the task, anticipated time to completion, problems encountered and possible solutions, and measures taken to ensure quality control. Deliverables specific to data management tasks include, but are not limited to: computer programs or systems of programs; quality control reports including edit checks in hard copy or in electronic form; SAS datasets; and dataset documentation in hardcopy or electronic format. It is anticipated that Contractor programmers will work collaboratively with the LEPS Data Manager. CONTRACTOR EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS - KEY PERSONNEL The Contractor must: - Have significant expertise with SAS including, but not limited to, dataset construction, PROC SQL, and various descriptive and analytic procedures; - Have available for work on this contract one or more programmer-analysts with significant programming experience in SAS; - Have experience managing data collection and creating datasets (particularly SAS datasets) from raw data derived from large and/or complex studies; - Have extensive experience documenting datasets and analyzed data; - Have a working knowledge of Windows operating systems, data communications, and IBM-compatible desktop and laptop PCs; - Be readily available, responsive, and able to attend meetings and conference calls with no more than 48 hours advance notice; - Have sufficient qualified personnel assigned and/or available to this contract so as to be able to accomplish data management and analytic activities in a timely manner as indicated herein; and - Be able to begin work immediately (within two weeks or less) upon award on the data management and analytic activities described in this Statement of Work. - Work collaboratively through phone calls and electronic communications, with data collection sites and with the COR. - Be willing to handle data dictionaries and/or data entry forms written in a foreign language (Icelandic), although we anticipate that most, if not all, documentation will be in English. - In addition to the above requirements, it is desirable that the contractor have experience pertaining to subject matter in medical, epidemiologic or social studies, as well as data collection and data analysis for these studies - examples of this type of subject matter would include typical health and lifestyle questions on surveys or questionnaires, coding systems for drugs, scales for cognitive impairment, translation of algorithms for disease ascertainment into computer programming code, and technical data, such as CTs, MRIs and laboratory assays. Period of Performance is September 29, 2016 through March 28, 2017. The provision at FAR clause 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors - Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. The provision at FAR clause 52.212-2, Evaluation - Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. (a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: Technical and past performance, when combined, are significantly more important than cost or price. (b) Options. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s). (c) A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer's specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award. The Offerors to include a completed copy of the provision at FAR clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items, with its offer. The FAR clause at 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. Please see attached for additional terms and conditions. FAR clause at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. The following additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions as determined by the contracting officer are necessary for this acquisition and consistent with customary commercial practices. The Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) are not applicable to this requirement. Responses to this solicitation must include clear and convincing evidence of the offeror's capability of fulfilling the requirement as it relates to the technical evaluation criteria. The price proposal must include the labor categories, an estimate of the number of hours required for each labor category, fully loaded fixed hourly rate or each labor category, breakdown and rationale for other direct costs or materials, and the total amount. In addition the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size must be included in the response. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov." All responses must be received by September 27, 2016 at 9:00 AM Eastern Standard Time. and reference number HHS-NIH-NIDA-SSSA-RFQ-2016-720 Responses may be submitted electronically to Mr. Brian Lind at lindbj@nida.nih.Gov.. Fax responses will not be accepted. The name and telephone number of the individual to contact for information regarding the solicitation, Mr. Brian Lind at 301-827-5298.