NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD A CONTRACT WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION: NIMH Comprehensive Analysis of Sleep Microstructure

NOTICE OF INTENT to Sole Source SOLICITATION NUMBER: NIMH-24-001116-NOI TITLE: NIMH Comprehensive Analysis of Sleep Microstructure CLASSIFICATION CODE:mR497 -- Support- Professional: Personal Services Contracts NAICS CODE: 541990 - All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services RESPONSE DATE: 1/4/25 PRIMARY POINTS OF CONTACT: Kyle Miller Kyle.Miller2@nih.gov Michael Horn michael.horn@nih.gov DESCRIPTION: INTRODUCTION THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) SYNOPSIS TO AWARD A CONTRACT WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME). The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Experimental Therapeutics and Pathophysiology Branch (ETPB) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Brady Riedner for the purchase of services relating to data analysis and preparation, participation in virtual team meetings, and assisting in the preparation of manuscripts for submission to peer-reviewed journals. NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE and SET ASIDE STATUS The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 541990 - All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services with a Size Standard of $19.5 million. REGULATORY AUTHORITY This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13'Simplified Acquisition Procedures. Contracts awarded using FAR Part 13'Simplified Acquisition Procedures are exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6'Competition Requirements. FAR Subpart 13.106-1 (b) Soliciting from a single source provides that: For purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, Contracting officers may solicit from one source IF the contracting officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available (e.g., urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, brand-name OR industrial mobilization). The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2024-01 dated November 14, 2023. DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT The Experimental Therapeutics and Pathophysiology Branch (ETPB) is currently immersed in a comprehensive project focused on the exploration of intricate sleep data derived from patients struggling with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). These patients were part of multiple research protocols and underwent various treatments, including ketamine, scopolamine, and Riluzole. Within this TRD cohort, there is a subgroup encompassing individuals with both unipolar and bipolar depression. The primary objective is to advance our understanding of these conditions and develop more effective methods for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illness. Through extensive research efforts, the ETPB is actively working to create medications that can rapidly alleviate symptoms of depression and reduce the risk of suicide. Additionally, they aim to identify specific biological markers that can improve our ability to predict an individual's response to treatment. Analyzing this extensive, multi-modal dataset generated from the diverse research protocols necessitates the use of specialized tools. This involves hands-on experimental design, data analysis, and visualization of sleep patterns and imaging. The tools employed encompass MATLAB and other programming languages. A profound understanding of mood disorders related to sleep is paramount for this endeavor. In this capacity, the contractor will actively contribute to ongoing sleep-related projects within the ETPB. This contribution includes data analysis and preparation, participation in virtual team meetings, and assisting in the preparation of manuscripts for submission to peer-reviewed journals. The period of performance is one 12-month base year from the date of award and two 12-month option years. CONTRACTING WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME) DETERMINATION During market research, it was found that Brady Riedner is the only vendor that can provide the required services. His extensive experience in the use of EEG to understand sleep in patients with treatment resistant depression, the use of EEG in morphology and spatiotemporal dynamics of EEG sleep slow waves and the use of his analytical techniques used to characterize the dynamic behavior of neural activity, particularly slow waves, during sleep in a neuroscientific research setting exclusively qualifies him for this work. Furthermore, Dr. Riedner has become internationally renowned for his development of many advanced sleep analytic techniques currently used in the field to characterize the dynamic and local behavior of neural activity during sleep, also known as sleep microstructure. He has been published in many highly prestigious journals including Sleep, Neuron, and Nature Neuroscience. Dr. Riedner possesses a skill set that is extremely hard to find. This expertise is of the utmost importance to our ongoing studies in ETPB. Therefore, with these facts in mind, it was found that Brady Riedner is the only vendor that can provide the needed services. The intended source is: Dr. Brady Riedner 4316 Misty Valley Drive Middleton, WI 53562 CLOSING STATEMENT THIS SYNOPSIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. All responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation which shall be considered by the agency. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement. Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties' bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement and include: unit price, list price, the delivery period after contract award, the prompt payment discount terms, the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), the Unique Entity Identifier ID (UEI), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov. All responses must be received by the closing date and time of this announcement and must reference the solicitation number, NIMH-24-001116-NOI. Responses must be submitted electronically to Kyle Miller, Contract Specialist, at kyle.miller2@nih.gov and Michael Horn, Contracting Officer, at michael.horn@nih.gov . U.S. Mail and fax responses will not be accepted.