Carla Blalock

Carla Blalock serves as a key procurement professional within the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health under the Department of Health and Human Services. She is responsible for managing acquisitions that support the NIA’s mission to advance biomedical research on aging and age-related diseases. Her portfolio centers on contracting for specialized testing laboratory services and analytical research support, ensuring that scientific investigations into biological aging mechanisms are equipped with high-integrity data and validated methodologies. She oversees the full lifecycle of procurement actions, from market research and solicitation development to contract award and performance monitoring, aligning acquisitions with NIA’s strategic priorities in translational gerontology and precision diagnostics. Blalock maintains a broad network of vendor partnerships with independent testing laboratories, contract research organizations, and specialized analytical service providers. Her procurement patterns reflect a preference for established, accredited entities capable of delivering high-compliance, reproducible results in areas such as biomarker validation, cellular aging assays, and genomic analysis. While no single contractor dominates her portfolio, she consistently engages firms with CAP/CLIA certification and experience in NIH-funded research environments, fostering long-term, performance-driven relationships grounded in scientific rigor. Blalock’s contracting activity shows no reliance on socioeconomic set-asides, with 100% of awards issued under full and open competition. This reflects a mission-driven focus on technical capability over socioeconomic criteria, though it does not preclude small business participation when they meet stringent scientific and operational requirements. Her primary procurement focus is NAICS 541380—Testing Laboratories and Services—encompassing clinical, molecular, and biochemical testing; analytical instrument calibration; and quality-controlled data generation. She specializes in acquiring services that support preclinical and early-phase clinical research in neurodegeneration, metabolic aging, and cellular senescence, requiring deep domain expertise in biobanking, longitudinal sample analysis, and regulatory-compliant data management.