Contact Points
STATEMENT OF WORK (SERVICES) (SOW) GENERAL INFORMATION: Collaborative Research on Mood Disorders and Reward-Processing Mood Brain & Development Unit (MBDU) is a laboratory designed to conduct brain imaging studies in children. Such research requires diverse expertise in computational modeling and cognitive neuroscience across various modalities, including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG). MBDU requires collaborative efforts to enhance the impact of research performed on site at the NIMH. In the past, work with Dr. Narun Pornpattananangkul has facilitated the impact of research at MBDU by creating pipelines for analyzing large amount of neuroimaging data and by incorporating computational models into the analyses at different modalities (fMRI, MEG and EEG). Both MBDU and Dr. Pornpattananangkul are interested in the neural-computational mechanisms, such as reward processing, that may help explain symptoms in mood disorders, such as anhedonia and low-mood. MBDU requires a leading authority who can capture different aspects of reward processing in mood disorders with computational models at different modalities (fMRI, MEG, EEG). MBDU requires that the consultant has developed well-validated procedures for evaluating reward-processing in children that are highly congruent with the research question and data acquired by Dr. Stringaris. These are questions that examine relationships between reward-processing and mood disorders. The overall goal of collaboration with the contractor is to delineate aspects of brain function that relate to both normal and pathological processing during decision-making of reward-related stimuli. MBDU and the contractor have used similar protocols in research in both brain imaging and behavioral studies. MBDU seeks a consultant to provide the following: (a) the development of decision-making tasks that allow us to study reward-processing during fMRI and M/EEG in children with vs. without mood disorders and (b) an implementation of computational modeling to capture different aspects of reward-processing. The contractor has a leading role in all these projects including overseeing the technical work of research fellows, data analysis, and writing of scientific reports. The purpose of this acquisition is to acquire a contractor to oversee the dissemination of these methods to other collaborating laboratories. Page 2 of 6 General Requirements: The period of performance one 12-month base year. Proposed Base Year: 1/10/2020 – 1/9/2021
SCOPE OF WORK: Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the Government as needed to perform the Statement of Work below: The contractor shall assess and analyze data from the aforementioned projects and shall assist in manuscript preparation and publication. The contractor also will provide materials to collaborators so that they might complete studies of reward-processing and mood disorders. The contractor will perform these duties in collaboration with existing members of the Intramural Research Program. The contractor will also oversee training of NIMH-IRP staff on the newly implemented research procedures. The contractor will prepare and maintain materials that arise from this research in a format that can be easily shared with other scientists. The contractor will also work with the NIMH preparing manuscripts that present the results from this work; the contactor will perform these duties by applying a range of tools with which the contractor possesses expertise. The contractor should understand data analytic procedures, using computer languages, such as R, Matlab and Python. The contractor should understand how to use ePrime to interpret results from experiments and design studies that extend these results.
LEVEL OF EFFORT: During the base year the contractor shall provide approximately 5 hours per week, not to exceed 267 labor hours.
GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITIES: These duties will be performed in collaboration with the personnel of the Mood Brain & Development Unit (MBDU) under the supervision of Dr. Stringaris. Prior to publishing any
Period of Performance: Page 3 of 6 Travel:
Key Personnel:
DELIVERY OR DELIVERABLES: 1. Description of Tasks and Associated Deliverables: A progress report will be submitted six months into the contract to Dr. Stringaris and two publications of the research conducted. 2. Reporting Requirements: A progress report will be submitted six months into the contract.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS The Contractor shall visit MBDU on the NIH campus between one and two times during the base period of one year. The following individual is considered to be essential to the work being performed hereunder: Narun Pornpattananangkul, Ph.D. Dr. Pornpattananangkul obtained his Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience from Northwestern University, IL in 2015. After he completed post-doctoral training at National University of Singapore, he has been working for MBDU since then. He has published over 28 journal articles and chapters, many of which are on reward-processing, mood disorders, fMRI and EEG. Several of his publications are in top tier journals in respective fields, including JAMA- Psychiatry, Neuroimage, Human Brain Mapping, Behavioral and Brain Science, Neuropsychologia, Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, Psychoneuroendocrinology, Psychophysiology, Journal of Gerontology and Biological Psychology. Key Personnel – HHSAR 352.242-70 (Jan. 2006) The key personnel specified in this contract are essential to the work performance. At least 30 days prior to diverting any of the specified individuals to other programs or contracts (or as soon as possible, if an individual must be replaced, for example, as a result of leaving the employ of Page 4 of 6 Information System Security Plan: Data Rights: Section 508—Electronic and Information Technology Standards: Publications and Publicity: the Contractor), the Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer and shall submit comprehensive justification for the diversion or replacement request (including proposed substitutions for key personnel) to permit evaluation by the Government of the impact on performance under this contract. The Contractor shall not divert or otherwise replace any key personnel without the written consent of the Contracting Officer. The Government may modify the contract to add or delete key personnel at the request of the Contractor or Government. 1. An Information system security plan is applicable to this requirement because contractor personnel are expected to have routine access to sensitive HHS data or information, whether in an HHS-controlled information system or in hard copy. 2. The information system security plan pre-solicitation has been completed by the cognizant program official and signed by the NIMH Information Systems Security Officer and attached to the statement. 3. The Contractor shall complete and submit a signed and witnessed "Commitment to Protect Non-Public Information – Contractor—Employee Non-Disclosure Agreement" form for each contractor and subcontractor employee who may have access to non- public Department information under this contract. 4. The Contractor will maintain compliance with NIH requirements for training and certification in the ethical conduct of research and the protection of participant information, as well the security of NIH computers and communications. The NIMH shall have unlimited rights to and ownership of all deliverables provided under this contract, including reports, recommendations, briefings, work plans and all other deliverables. This includes the deliverables provided under the basic contract and any optional task deliverables exercised by the contracting officer. In addition, it includes any additional deliverables required by contract change. The definition of “unlimited rights” is contained in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 27.401, “Definitions.” FAR clause 52.227-14, “Rights in Data-General”, is hereby incorporated by reference and made a part of this contract/order. The contractor shall comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. § 794d), as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-220), August 7, 1998. Page 5 of 6 Confidentiality of Information: Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) The Contractor shall assist the MBDU staff in writing and preparing for publication the data produced in the performance of the statement of work. The Contractor will not disclose, publish, divulge, release, or make known, in any manner or to any extent, to any individual other than the authorized government employee, the content of any sensitive information provided under this contract. For this requirement, the government may provide to the contractor information or data of a personal nature about individual(s) or proprietary information or data pertaining to this project, which is confidential. This requirement is expected to generate information or data which is confidential. The Contractor shall handle all sensitive information or data in a secure manner and consult with the authorized government employee prior to any release, disclosure, dissemination, or publication. 1. The following Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) will represent the Government for the purpose of this contract: Name: Courtney White Lead Administrative Officer Intramural Administrative Service Branch Office of Resource Management National Institute of Mental Health National Institutes of Health Bldg. 31/Rm. 2B34 31 Center Drive Bethesda, MD 20814 Phone: 301.443.8060 E-mail address: courtney.white@nih.gov 2. The COR is responsible for: (1) monitoring the Contractor's technical progress, including the surveillance and assessment of performance and recommending to the Contracting Officer changes in requirements; (2) interpreting the statement of work and any other technical performance requirements; (3) performing technical evaluation as required; (4) performing technical inspections and acceptances required by this contract; and (5) assisting in the resolution of technical problems encountered during performance. 3. The Contracting Officer is the only person with authority to act as agent of the Government under this contract. Only the Contracting Officer has authority to: (1) direct or negotiate any changes in the statement of work; (2) modify or extend the period of performance; (3) change the delivery schedule; (4) authorize Page 6 of 6 reimbursement to the Contractor for any costs incurred during the performance of this contract; (5) otherwise change any terms and conditions of this contract; or (6) sign written licensing agreements. Any signed agreement shall be incorporated by reference in Section K of the contract 4. The Government may unilaterally change the COR designation for this contract.
Interested parties may identify in writing their interest and capability in response to this requirement. Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties’ bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement and include: unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, the delivery period after contract award, the prompt payment discount terms, the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov.
All responses must be received by closing date and must reference the announcement. Responses may be submitted electronically to the attention of the contract specialist. Fax responses will not be accepted.
All responsible sources may submit a bid, proposal, or quotation which shall be considered by the agency.