Sequence RNA from patient biopsies to identify how irradiation affects tissue function.

Line Item Number 0001: Sequence RNA from patient biopsies to identify how irradiation affects tissue function. Line Item Number 0002: Shipping and Handling. Period of Performance: 8 weeks. Background: The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) seeks to procure the sequence RNA from patient biopsies to identify how irradiation affects tissue function. Patients who have had salivary tumors removed or have undergone therapeutic irradiation of head and neck tumors, often suffer from an irreversible loss of salivary gland function. More than 500,000 patients worldwide/year are treated for head and neck cancer with irradiation, and the permanent salivary hypofunction is thought to be due to loss of the stem/progenitor cells so that the gland cannot repair or regenerate. Salivary hypofunction in these patients impairs their oral health and affects their quality of life. However, little is known about the stem/progenitor cells in the adult salivary gland, and how they respond to radiation treatment. Purpose and Objectives: The requirement transcriptome analysis by RNA-seq is needed for experiments conducted at NIDCR to study Stem/Progenitor Cell Function During Salivary Gland Development. The goal of the pilot study is to analyze submandibular and parotid salivary gland biopsies from irradiated adult salivary glands and compare them with a similar number of non-irradiated biopsies. Only eligible and capable patients will be approached by a study coordinator regarding voluntary participation. Signed informed consent will be obtained before the study procedures are conducted. RNA will be prepared by researchers at NIH, the samples will be sent to the vendor for sequencing. The objectives are to compare gene expression between the four sample groups. Parotid and submandibular, both irradiated and non irradiated. NIDCR wants to identify genes that are differentially expressed between the groups with a fold change and p-value analysis. NIDCR requires the vendor to do bioinformatic analysis and provide a web-interface with which data can be accessed. NIDCR needs the raw data to be downloadable, or provided on an external hard drive. Contractor Requirements: The contractor must provide the following: 1) Automation of library preparation, number and length of sequence reads. 2) Availability of Bioinformatic followup via phone or email. 3) Previous experience with salivary gland library and sequencing. 4) Ease of use of website interface for analysis of data. 5) Raw data should be downloadable or provided on an external hard drive. 6) Past performance. 7) Best value will be evaluated based on a combination of price, bioinformatic analyses, data storage, and ease of use of website interface. Government Responsibilities: a. The government will not furnish any government property to the vendor. b. The government will not furnish any facilities to be used by the vendor. Reporting Requirements and Deliverables: a. The Government will receive real time access to the status of the project, download reports and data immediately after they are available. Inspection and Acceptance Requirements: 1. The Government will inspect all deliverables. The Contractor shall be contacted via phone or email upon delivery, if any problems are discovered. 2. A Government Official will inspect and accept requirements. National Institutes of Health (NIH), Building 30, Bethesda Main Campus, 30 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD 20814 vi. The FAR Provision 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors -- Commercial, applies to this acquisition and is hereby incorporated by reference. All Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) clauses may be viewed at http://acquisition.gov/comp/far/index.html. vii. EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS The Government will evaluate proposals that are determined technically acceptable in accordance with the Technical Evaluation factors. The Government intends to award a single purchase order from this solicitation. The Government reserves the right not to award a purchase order. Evaluation of Proposals: The Government reserves the right to make an award without discussions based solely upon initial proposals. EVALUATION FACTORS: 1) Automation of library preparation, number and length of sequence reads. 2) Availability of Bioinformatic followup via phone or email. 3) Previous experience with salivary gland library and sequencing. 4) Ease of use of website interface for analysis of data. 5) Raw data should be downloadable or provided on an external hard drive. 6) Past performance. 7) Best value will be evaluated based on a combination of price, bioinformatic analyses, data storage, and ease of use of website interface. A. Price (This will be Firm-Fixed Price): An evaluation of the offeror's price proposal will be made to determine if proposed prices are realistic for the work to be performed, reflect a clear understanding of the requirements, and are consistent with the technical proposal. Reasonableness determinations will be made by determining if competition exists, by comparing proposed prices with established commercial or GSA price schedules (if applicable), and/or by comparing proposed prices with the Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE). Best value to the Government. viii. In accordance with FAR Clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items, offerors must complete annual representations and certifications on-line at https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/. ix. FAR clause 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items applies to this Acquisition. x. FAR clause 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders - Commercial Items applies to this Acquisition. xi. The Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) and assigned rating does not apply to this acquisition. Offerors shall submit their proposals no later than 7:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on August 29, 2013 The proposal must reference the RFP Number: NHLBI-CSB-(DE)-2013-233-AMS. All responsible offerors may submit a proposal, which if timely received, shall be considered by the agency. Proposals can be emailed to the Contracting Specialist, Alice Sobsey at sobseyam@nhlbi.nih.gov; Quotations shall not be deemed received by the Government until the quotation is entered into the e-mail address inbox set forth above. Faxed proposals will NOT be accepted. All quotes shall contain the following: 1. Name of Contracting Organization; 2. Contract Number (for subcontracts, provide the prime contract number and the subcontract number); 3. Contract Type; 4. Total Contract Value; 5. Description of Requirement; 6. Contracting Officer's Name and Telephone Number; 7. North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code; and 8. DUNS Number. 9. Quote, with price breakdown. Offerors must complete annual representations and certifications on-line at https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/.