Contracting Office Address Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Office of Acquisitions, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Room 1E226, Bethesda, MD 20892, UNITED STATES Description The National Cancer Institute (NCI), Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG), Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch (OEEB) plans to procure on a sole source basis Industrial Hygiene Support for Occupational Epidemiology Studies from Universiteit Utrecht Faculteit Der Dierengeneeskunde, Yalelaan 2, 3584 CL, The Netherlands. This acquisition will be processed in accordance with simplified acquisition procedures as stated in FAR Part 13.106-1(b)(1) and is exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6. The North American Industry Classification System code is 541380 and the business size standard is $14.0 million. Only one award will be made as a result of this solicitation. This will be awarded as a firm fixed price type contract. It has been determined there are no opportunities to acquire green products or services for this procurement. The diesel exhaust studies include two categories: diesel exposed miners study (DEMS) and diesel biomarker study. The DEMS was initiated in late 1940 in eight mines across the United States. Exposure to diesel exhaust has been estimated based on measurements collected from facility based 1998-2001 personal respirable elemental carbon (REC) data. The exposure assessment and epidemiological results have been published. Furthermore, additional exposure analyses are foreseen that will require continuous industrial hygiene support. The Diesel biomarker study is conducted to explore mechanisms how diesel exhaust causes lung cancer, which includes direct genotoxic effects by nitro- and methylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), oxidative damage, changes in gene expression patterns and DNA methylation, and inflammatory effects from particulate deposition. An important component of this study is the exposure assessment component, which must be conducted in such a way as to be scientifically comparable to the methods and analysis used in the aforementioned DEMS study and to the Quijing lung cancer study (see below), all of which require comprehensive assessment of exposure to toxic elements in air. The case-cohort study of Chinese benzene exposure is conducted to evaluate the occurrence of hematopoietic malignancies and related disorders of about 3,000 benzene exposed workers. The exposure assessment has been partially completed; and exposure models are built using a novel Bayesian framework and include information on historical exposure measurements of benzene and toluene, historical information on potential exposure determinants, and individual work characteristics. Models are currently expanded to cover jobs outside the cohort factories as well as to include other exposures such as xylene and other co-exposures. Expertise is needed to combine all information for assignment of life-time benzene exposure estimates and important co-exposures, to be used for assessing benzene-related risks in the case-cohort study. As there are many implicit and explicit steps in the reconstruction of the historical benzene exposure, uncertainty analysis to evaluate the potential impact of critical assumptions in exposure assessment on study results are planned. The Qujing indoor air pollution and lung cancer study is a hospital-based case-control study conducted among women in China in the Qujing district of Yunnan Province, where lung cancer is caused in great part by exposure to the indoor combustion products of smoky coal, and a cross-sectional exposure assessment survey of 150 homes to develop exposure models for integration into the analysis of the case-control study. Industrial hygiene expertise is needed to assist the NCI in processing and analyzing exposure data collected as part of the cross-sectional survey, and to assist in develop empirical exposure models based on measurements of toxic components in air and in coal samples to estimate exposure to known and suspected lung carcinogens for each case and control in the case-control study of lung cancer. The Asialymph is a multi-center international hospital based case-control study of lymphoma conducted in four Eastern Asia areas: Hong Kong, Chengdu, Tianjin, and Taiwan. The primary scientific objectives of Asialymph are to evaluate the etiology of lymphoma in Asia with a main focus on chemical, viral, and lifestyle exposures and genetic susceptibility. In particular, studying the relationship between occupational exposure to benzene, trichloroethylene (TCE), and formaldehyde and risk of lymphoma is a major goal of the study. Exposure to these chemicals in Asialymph will be estimated using a combination of computer-aided expert assessment and linkage with exposure databases. Industrial hygiene support is needed to work with local industrial hygienists in each center to collect and assist in developing occupational exposure databases, and for the development of historical quantitative estimates to these chemicals using combined approached of expert assessment and quantitative historical data. The University of Utrecht is proposed for this requirement because it has extensive and unique experience in the relevant areas that was not and is still not available from any other potential contract source. The University of Utrecht has worked on the aforementioned studies for the past 6 years and contracting with another source would result in degradation of the studies due to loss of historical knowledge, would threaten data integrity, would lead to substantial delays and extra costs to the government, and would leave the NCI unable to complete the mentioned projects and unable to answer concerns raised by stakeholders. The University of Utrecht has a longstanding track record of conducting environmental monitoring campaigns in Asia. It has build-up extensive collaborations with laboratories and Universities in Asia and has the necessary equipment available in Asia/China to conduct extensive monitoring programs. Furthermore, the University of Utrecht has been able to retain all key personnel that have worked on the aforementioned projects in the last 8 years and therefore have maintained the historical knowledge of all mentioned projects and as such possesses a wealth of in-depth knowledge. As mentioned before contracting with another source would lead to a loss of historical information, would threaten the data integrity of the projects, and would lead to substantial delays in all mentioned projects leading to additional costs to the government. This notice is not a request for competitive quotation. However, if any interested party, especially small businesses, believes it can meet the above requirement, it may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency. The statement of capabilities and any other information furnished must be in writing and must contain material in sufficient detail to allow NCI to determine if the party can perform the requirement. Responses must be received in the contracting office by 5:00 PM EST, on July 1, 2016. All responses and questions must be in writing and faxed
+1 (555) 000-0000 or emailed to Kimesha Leake, Contract Specialist via electronic mail at
contact@example.gov. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. No collect calls will be accepted. In order to receive an award, contractors must be registered and have valid certification in the System for Award Management (SAM) through sam.gov. Reference: N02CO62609-24 on all correspondence.
