Department of Defense (DoD) Blast Injury Research Program Coordinating Office (PCO) Request for Information (RFI) Computational Human Body Modeling Performer Workshop - Submit responses via the DoD Blast Injury Research Program website, included below

This Request for Information (RFI) is for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC), headquartered at Fort Detrick, Maryland. The USAMRMC mission is to provide medical knowledge and materiel lifecycle management to protect, treat, and optimize Warfighter health and performance across the full spectrum of operations. In fiscal year 2017 (FY17), the Department of Defense (DoD) Blast Injury Research Program Coordinating Office (PCO) established the DoD Working Group (WG) on Computational Modeling of Human Lethality, Injury, and Impairment from Blast-related Threats on behalf of the Executive Agent (EA) to shape, focus, and coordinate the DoD's computational modeling efforts. This is intended to enable a new DoD capability for modeling and simulation of human lethality, injury, and impairment from the entire spectrum of blast-related threats and environments. WG Members are program managers from the DoD and other federal agencies. Some of the efforts of this WG include critically assessing the capability and fidelity of current state-of-the-art in modeling of the human body, promoting coordination, collaboration, and data sharing across the DoD for modeling of human responses to blast-related threats, and identifying knowledge and technology gaps to be filled by ongoing and future programs. The objective of the WG is to develop a Strategic Plan for a computational modeling framework to house an all-encompassing desired DoD Modeling Capability (Modeling Capability) that incorporates existing and planned models. The Modeling Capability will accurately model and simulate human lethality, injury, and impairment from all blast-related threats and environments. The Modeling Capability will complement DoD-sponsored experimental projects to aid the DoD in understanding blast effects on Warfighter survivability, on design safety components to mitigate injuries sustained by Warfighters, for ensuring injured Warfighters can return to their daily routines, and for rapidly responding to future threats. A requirement for the Modeling Capability are validated computational models which address the entire blast injury taxonomy under all operational conditions, spatial scales (individual tissues to a population of Warfighters), time scales (milliseconds after interaction to months/years of rehabilitation), and modeling paradigms. Models that are to be used within the Modeling Capability must also communicate with models external to the human body, such as models of personal protective equipment and combat platforms. To inform the development of the Modeling Capability, the WG intends to leverage the expertise that resides within and outside of the DoD and other federal agencies. The WG is hosting a Computational Human Body Modeling Performer Workshop (Performer Workshop) to inform development of the Strategic Plan. The goals of the Performer Workshop are to 1) collect information on the state of the science in human body modeling and simulation; 2) develop an understanding of the future of human body computational modeling; 3) assemble knowledge on potential challenges in public/private partnerships; and 4) understand current challenges in inter-model communication. For the purposes of this Performer Workshop, - performers are defined as developers and users of computational human body models from industry, academia, DoD, and non-DoD federal agencies. The Performer Workshop will be held from 10-11 September, 2018 at The MITRE Corporation headquarters in McLean, VA. The Performer Workshop will be limited to 150 performers, with the number of performers representing an individual organization or institution limited to two. There is no registration fee, though early registration is highly encouraged. Information about registration will be posted at https://blastinjuryresearch.amedd.army.mil/. Performers wishing to present their computational model as part of the Performer Workshop must submit an abstract by 12 June 2018. Abstracts are encouraged across a diversity of fields including, but not limited to: finite element, computational fluid dynamics, neuromuscular, musculoskeletal and/or cognitive regeneration (i.e., models describing physical, psychological, and physiological changes due to rehabilitation), pharmacological, behavioral, dermal burns, and chemical/biological/radiological contamination. Models that include traditional and novel approaches to model development and models that include considerations from across a number of independent domains (e.g., electrical and biological) are also of interest. Only one abstract submission is allowed per performer. Abstracts can be no longer than 2 pages; must be single spaced using Times New Roman 12-point font for all text including references and figure captions with 1 margins. Figures and references must be imbedded in the document and count against the page limit. Nominated abstracts will be selected for a 15-minute presentation or selected for a poster presentation. Posters will be presented throughout the Performer Workshop during specified session times. Abstracts should describe the development, validation, and use of the performer's computational model. References should accompany the descriptions. Each abstract will be scored on a scale of 0 to 4 (with 0 being the lowest score and 4 being the highest) in each of four areas: 1. Quality of the written abstract 2. Current state of the development of the computational model 3. Current state of model validation, and robustness of validation process 4. Extent to which the model is used by the broader community Abstracts will be evaluated by WG Members and an associated support team, and then rank-ordered according to the sum of their scores. After considering the scores, individual reviewer recommendations, comments from committee discussion, and diversity of models, abstracts will be selected and assigned either an oral presentation or a poster presentation. For the purposes of this RFI the following terms have been defined by the WG: Computational Model: The numerical implementation of a conceptual model including all mathematical, numerical, logical, and qualitative representations, and consisting of well-defined procedures, solution algorithms, and convergence criteria. Validation: The process of determining the degree to which the computational model and associated data are accurate representations of the real world from the perspective of the intended use(s). Performers who are selected to present a briefing or poster will be asked to prepare and submit their briefing or poster in advance. Content should provide an overview of modeling capabilities relevant to the theme of this Performer Workshop. Copies of the briefings or the posters must be submitted no later than 2 September 2018. Performers should come prepared to share knowledge and ideas relevant to the goals of the Performer Workshop. Performers presentations should adhere to the meeting goals provided and not attempt to use the Performer Workshop as marketing, promotional, sales, or a contact-building event. To respond to the RFI, please visit the DoD Blast Injury Research Program website at https://blastinjuryresearch.amedd.army.mil/guides/rfi.cfm You will be asked to provide basic contact information and will then be provided a user name, password, and a link to the submission site. After submitting your document, you will receive confirmation that your document was successfully submitted. DISCLAIMERS AND IMPORTANT NOTES This RFI is issued solely for information and program planning purposes; it does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Submission is voluntary and is not required to respond to a subsequent Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) (if any) or other research solicitation (if any) on this topic. The USAMRMC/U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA)/DoD Blast Injury Research PCO will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred in responding to this RFI. Respondents are advised that USAMRAA/USAMRMC/DoD Blast Injury Research PCO are under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFI. Information in responses will be held confidential to the extent permitted under applicable laws and regulations. Any proprietary, non-public information should be marked so. Questions should be addressed to the Contract Specialist for this RFI, Mr. Jeremy McMurry, via e-mail at jeremy.L.mcmurry.civ@mail.mil. The website for the Blast Injury Research PCO can be accessed at https://blastinjuryresearch.amedd.army.mil.