R -- Fee for Services

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The solicitation number is issued as a Request for Quotes, RFQ60035. This RFQ is a small business set aside. This solicitation and its incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-09. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Station Support/Simplified Acquisitions (SS/SA) Branch, on the behalf of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), intends to negotiate and award a purchase order on competitive bases to provide assistance to the NIMH Neurodevelopmental Disorders Branch in the Division of Pediatric Translational Research and Treatment Development (DPTR) in providing interaction between the developmental research community and federal research programs. The contractor will provide assistance with program activities, such as portfolio review, workshop planning (e.g., ADHD workshop, neuroscience-based interventions workshop), literature reviews and coordination of the MRI Study of Normal Brain Development (Pediatric MRI), which is a multi-site study of an epidemiologically ascertained sample of over 500 healthy, typically developing, children who are being studied longitudinally, each for three or more times, using neuroimaging (fMRI, DTI, MRS) and clinical/behavioral measures, over a period of six years of life. The Pediatric MRI study is a significant contribution in its own right, but it also provides foundational comparison data for studies of developmental disorder, including of autism. Current NIMH efforts are focused on making the Pediatric MRI database public and closely aligned with the National Database for Autism Research, an NIH data resource under development; assistance with program activities in the Psychosocial Stress and Related Disorders Branch, as appropriate to branch needs in programmatic areas such as antisocial behavior, conduct disorder, and oppositional-defiant disorder; support with facilitating scientific activities across DPTR branches and programs; and assistance DPTR scientific staff in the preparation of materials needed for responses to inquiries from members of Congress, other governing agencies, and voluntary organizations. It is estimated this requirement will need 2080 hours and the period of performance will be September 1, 2006 through August 31, 2007. The evaluation will be based on the technical and administrative capabilities in relation to the needs of the project/task and the reasonableness of cost shown in relation to the work to be performed. The criteria that will be applied in the evaluation of your response will be a) experience/expertise in social and behavioral science, child development research and mental health, combined; b) technical approach; and past performance (three (3)smiliar requirements). The following Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition: FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors - Commercial Items; FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation - Commercial Item; FAR 52.212-3 Offerors Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items; FAR 52.212-4 Contractor Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items; and FAR 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes of Executive Orders - Commercial Items. The Government intends to select the offer that represents the best value to the Government, price and all other factors considered. Please submit quotation (electronic copies are acceptable) no later than 5:00 P.M. Eastern Daylight Savings Time (EDT), June 30, 2006 to Ms. Roshawn Simpson, Contract Specialist. Copies of the aforementioned clauses are available via website www.arnet.gov/far. For delivery through the Postal Service, the address is NIH, NIDA, SS/SA Branch, 31 Center Drive, Rm 1B59, Bethesda, MD 20892. Collect calls will not be accepted.