Cassandra Conley

Cassandra Conley serves as a key procurement professional within the National Institutes of Health, supporting the strategic acquisition of advanced laboratory instrumentation, specialized biotechnology reagents, and high-precision technical services critical to biomedical research. She manages complex contracting actions that enable hypothesis-driven science, clinical translation, and data-intensive discovery, ensuring the agency secures cutting-edge analytical tools and computational infrastructure. Her work directly supports NIH’s mission to accelerate scientific innovation by aligning procurement decisions with research priorities across laboratories and clinical translation centers. Conley maintains longstanding relationships with leading contractors including Leidos Biomedical Research Inc., Kelly Services, Inc., Fors Marsh Group LLC, PPD Development LP, and The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company. These partnerships span contract types ranging from professional and scientific services to equipment maintenance and facility support, reflecting a diversified vendor ecosystem. She consistently engages vendors with deep domain expertise in life sciences, laboratory operations, and clinical trial logistics, fostering collaborative, performance-based contracting approaches that prioritize technical excellence and regulatory compliance. Her procurement patterns show a strong preference for open competition, with 95.8% of awards issued without set-aside restrictions, indicating a focus on technical capability over socioeconomic classifications. While small business participation is present at 4.2%, it is primarily through total small business set-asides under FAR 19.5 rather than targeted 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB programs, suggesting a prioritization of capability and scale in mission-critical acquisitions. Conley’s primary procurement focus lies in NAICS 423450 (medical and hospital equipment wholesale), 811210 (precision equipment repair), and 334516 (analytical laboratory instrument manufacturing), reflecting expertise in procuring mass spectrometers, chromatography systems, sequencing platforms, and associated calibration and maintenance services. She routinely sources high-complexity, FDA-regulated, and research-grade technologies essential to genomics, proteomics, and translational medicine initiatives.