OLAW IACUC Administrator's Best Practices Meetings

Project Background: The Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW), OER, NIH, is responsible for the general administration and implementation of the Public Health Service - (PHS) Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (Policy), and does this through a variety of educational and assurance mechanisms. One such mechanism is the support of educational workshops and conferences. There is a particular need for basic training of incoming Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) members in the practical implementation of the PHS Policy and in advanced and complex topics affecting IACUCs, and for educational opportunities that address how to achieve and coordinate compliance with the major oversight systems, including OLAW/PHS. The IACUC is a self-regulating entity that, according to U.S. federal law, must be established by institutions that use laboratory animals for research or instructional purposes to oversee and evaluate all aspects of the institution's animal care and use program. The "IACUC Administrator's Best Practices Meeting" is a unique working meeting of which IACUC staff and animal program operations personnel from across the country present and share best practices in the humane care and use of laboratory animals. The meeting format will facilitate development of methodologies to satisfy the requirement of the animal welfare laws and policies and include the opportunity to direct questions to representatives from OLAW, USDA, and AAALAC International. Topics for discussion will include practices for ensuring protocol and grant congruency, operating successful Occupational Health and Safety Programs, oversight of field housing locations, and effective use of holding protocols. Proceedings of the two-day program will be available to attendees and will be used as a resource for IACUC members. Project Description: Independently, and not as an agent of the Government, the vendor will present approximately two "IACUC Administrator's Best Practices Meetings" each year. The vendor will make a concerted effort to solicit appropriate participation of women, racial/ethnic minorities and persons with disabilities, and other individuals who have been traditionally under- represented in science, in accordance with the NIH Policy "Guidelines on Inclusion of Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in NIH Sponsored Intramural and Extramural Scientific Meetings and Conferences." (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/not95-123.html) Each Meeting will be held at an accessible site, as outlined by section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and, as applicable, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 that permits convenient accessibility for attendees. Participants with disabilities will be permitted to voluntarily identify any special needs. Each Meeting will be open to all individuals completing the appropriate registration form and paying the required registration fee, until such time as physical capacity for the sessions is reached. The Meeting will focus on topics of interest to IACUC members with a particular emphasis on the requirements of the PHS Policy. They will provide a basic yet comprehensive overview of the laws, regulations, and policies that govern the humane care and use of laboratory animals supplemented with examples and possible approaches for successful and effective administration. There will be opportunities for participants to consider best practices to complying with PHS Policy. Period of Performance: September 1, 2011 -August 31, 2012 with four (4) additional 12-month option periods. Place of Performance: Primarily on-site at the following location - 6707 Democracy Blvd, 10TH Floor, Bethesda, MD 20817 Justification of Unique Qualifications: OLAW's requirement of support from IACUC Administrators Association to conduct "IACUC Administrators Best Practices Meetings": This OLAW purchase request provides for the planning and support of the "IACUC Administrator's Best Practices Meetings" hosted by the IACUC Administrator's Association. This procurement represents continued support for these Meetings. Educational programs such as this fulfill OLAW's mission to support training programs to further the understanding of PHS policy and federal regulations to ensure the welfare of animals used in PHS-funded research. CLAW-sponsored workshops and conferences are an educational opportunity for IACUC members, administrators, veterinarians, animal care staff, researchers, regulatory personnel and compliance officers. The IACUC Administrator's Association is the only vendor which provides the expertise and experience to host educational outreach programs bringing together IACUC administrators to brainstorm and develop methodologies used to satisfy the requirements of animal welfare laws and policies. For this requirement, the vendor is to develop educational content of the Meetings and facilitate the development of best practices for IACUC administrators. This requires background expertise and knowledge of the laws, regulations and policies that govern the humane care and use of laboratory animals. Specific knowledge of the PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals is required. Attendees of these Meetings will discuss and expand the best practices developed over prior years. Other vendors that expressed an interest in the proposal and responded to a Sources Sought Notice on FedBizOpps lacked knowledge of the laws, regulations, and policies that govern the humane care and use of laboratory animals and experience developing best practices for IACUCs. A Sources Sought Announcement was published through FedBizOpps under Notice NLM-11-112-RSH(ss) to seek sources to fulfill the requirements of the proposal. The IACUC Administrator's Association was the only offeror that demonstrated an acceptable ability to perform the requirements of the task. Four offerors responded to the Notice. One offeror, the IACUC Administrators' Association, demonstrated their ability to perform the tasks of the proposal. Three other offerors lacked adequate expertise and knowledge of the animal welfare requirements of the task and experience in educating and developing best practices to guide IACUC staff. Offerors that responded to a Sources Sought Announcement published through FedBizOpps that lacked expertise and knowledge of the animal welfare requirements of the task were: - Strategic Meeting Solutions (SMS) - BHL Technologies, Inc. (BLH) - Capital Consulting Corporation (CCC) OLAW supports education programs and monitors compliance with the PHS Policy by Assured institutions and PHS funding components. Other vendor training programs in the field of animal care are not specific to meeting this requirement, experienced at facilitating best practices to satisfy the requirements of these laws and policies, and do not possess the expertise to provide a comprehensive overview of the laws, regulations, and policies that govern the humane care and use of laboratory animals. Government Decision: It is the intent of the National Library of Medicine Office of Acquisitions to procure conference planning and support services for the "IACUC Administrator's Best Practices Meetings" on a sole source basis from the IACUC Administrator's Association Inc. At this time, the NLM Office of Acquisition has no longer considered a full-and-open competition for this requirement because other vendors have not proved themselves capable of providing content structured to meet the needs of IACUC Administrators, focus on timely topics of interest (holding protocols, field housing, grant congruency review), or opportunities to address representatives from OLAW, USDA, and AAALAC International. The circumstances permitting other than full and open competition-single/sole source are in accordance with FAR 13.106-1 in which purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, may be solicited from one source if the contracting officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available.