Expert Studies Regarding Biomed Science and Tech Issues for NIH Programs/Staff

This is a Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of all qualified sources to perform a potential requirement. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of Science Policy (OSP), is conducting a market survey to ascertain the availability and capability of potential offerors to provide NIH with high-level, executive studies, reports, analyses, reviews, assessments, evaluations, surveys, conferences, symposia, or workshops (held as in-person and/or virtual at the Contractor's location) that are deemed important to the mission of the NIH. These activities may be carried out in a manner considered appropriate by the Contractor, drawing upon the scientific and technical expertise as well as that of other representatives of the scientific community, as long as NIH has approved the general approach via the execution of a task order. No work shall be performed unless it has been determined by the Government that the Contractor has the unique capability to perform the work. The Contractor shall furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities not otherwise provided by the Government as needed to perform the work outline below, using the Task Order approach: a. In-depth studies, which may focus on either issues of topical interest or long-range concerns of the biomedical sciences research community, and program reviews, and will result in specific findings and recommendations to the NIH. b. Experience with congressional tasks such as directives and reviews. c. Policy reviews, and the study of the ethical and legal issues of biomedical sciences research. Such reviews may be either general, covering a broad area of biomedical/behavioral interest, or they may address more narrowly defined issues of relevance to the NIH. d. Evaluation studies and program assessments. Evaluation efforts will generally focus on, but not be limited to, assessments of ongoing NIH programs, processes, or activities. e. Surveys on topics of specific interest to the NIH. Survey participants could include membs of the biomedical/behavioral community, universities, research institutions, and other elements of the scientific community. f. Conferences, symposia, seminars, or workshops on either a general area of interest or specific issues of concern to the NIH. Such events would result in a high-level written report with recommendations. g. Convening of committees or similar that meet regularly to discuss various topics related to biomedical sciences research that are of interest to NIH with the purpose of determining outcomes and/or recommendations to NIH. These groups would be comprised of the foremost academic, industry, non-profit, and governmental experts in the topic area. Respondents shall demonstrate they can conduct large-scale tasks for studies/projects simultaneously and produce printed and published deliverables (Section 508 compliant) such as workshop summaries and high-level final committee consensus reports. The respondent must demonstrate and explain their experience to convene a committee* of 12-20 experts with varied expertise for the study topic for the purpose of providing NIH with expert, high-level reports and the respondent must demonstrate that they can establish a committee to do analyses rather than the respondent to do it themselves. The respondent must demonstrate that they are experts in providing top customer service, possess strong and clear communication, can support a large capacity of tasks, be able to maintain independence, can have the ability to recruit top scientists. The respondent must be able to recruit top world-renowned expert scientists and clinicians in the biomedical science and technology fields for each of these studies/projects and be known for its independence from university, government, and industry influence. The respondent must demonstrate as well that they will be able to draw on expertise from academia, government, and industry for many tasks. The respondent must be able to outline and detail their conflict-of-interest policy and procedures, and how their reports are vetted. The respondent must demonstrate and detail how they maintain their confidentiality and their independence from outside influences. *A committee is defined as a group of experts called on by the respondent to be on a committee during the period of performance of the task. Committee members are not contractor's employees or subcontractors and independent of the contractor's organization or affiliates. The committee members will be charged with the task to deliberate and develop an independent report regarding the topic. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) for this requirement is 541690 with a size standard of $19.0 million. Considering this project summary, all interested concerns are invited to submit a tailored capability statement. The government requests that no proprietary or confidential business data be submitted in a response to this notice. Capability statements must include the name and telephone numbers of a point of contact having authority and knowledge to discuss responses with Government representatives. Capability statements in response to this market survey that do not provide sufficient information for evaluation or responses to an incorrect NAICS code will not be considered. The capability statement should reference Sources Sought Number HHS-NIH-OD-OLAO-OA-SS-23-072 and should be no longer than 14 single sided or 7 double sided pages in length with a 12-point font size in PDF format and shall include the following: (1) Name and Address of the Organization, (2) Size and type of business pursuant to the applicable NAICS code 541690, Point of Contact with name, title, phone, and email, (4) UEI number, (5) Contractor's capability statement that addresses the organization's ability, knowledge, experience, and personnel to perform the services described as above. (Pamphlets and standard brochures will not be considered responsive to this Sources Sought Notice.) (6) List of three organizations which equivalent types of services have been previously provided within the last three years - to include contract number, dollar value, and name, telephone number and email of the customer. This market survey is being conducted to reach the widest possible audience and to gather current market information. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. ALL INFORMATION SUBMITTED IN RESPONSE TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT MUST BE RECEIVED ON OR BEFORE THE CLOSING DATE. THE CLOSING DATE FOR RESPONSES IS MARCH 31, 2023 @ 5:00 PM EDT. Please Email virus free capability statements in PDF format to Susan Apter apters@od.nih.gov. Comments and questions will NOT be answered but may assist in creating a solicitation for this procurement. Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation might be listed in SAM.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).