NIMH22002951

Post Date/ Solicitation Issue Date

April 19, 2022 12:00 pm

Closing Response Date

May 2, 2022 5:00 pm

Proposed Award Date

May 31, 2022 12:00 pm

Project Title

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) Support Services

Contracting Office

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Small Business Size Standard

1,000 Employees

FPDS Classification Code

6640

Estimated Period of Performance

06/15/2022 - 06/14/2023

Competition Status

Competitive

Background/Description of Requirement

 

GENERAL INFORMATION

Title of Project:

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) Support Services

 

Statement of Need and Purpose:

The purpose of this requirement is to satisfy the PHS Animal Welfare Policy by acquiring a consultant to serve as a non-affiliated member for the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC).

 

Background Information and Objective:

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is mandated by the PHS Animal Welfare Policy (Item IV, Section 1.3b) to have an individual(s) who is not affiliated with NIH in any way other than as a non-affiliated member for the IACUC. 

 

Period of Performance:

The period of performance shall be for 12-months June 15, 2022 through June 14, 2023 with the option to exercise one additional 12-month period of performance June 15, 2023 through June 14, 2024.

 

SCOPE OF WORK

General Requirements:

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.

 

Specific Requirements:

The Contactor shall provide the following services:

 

• Contactor shall provide technical expertise to IACUC members on federal, state and biomedical research animal care and usage laws, policies and regulations for NIMH Division of Intramural Programs protocol submissions, amendments, and renewals applications.

 

• Contactor shall identify and provide recommendations on areas of non-compliance with federal, state and biomedical research animal care and usage laws, policies and regulations for NIMH protocol submissions, amendments, and renewals applications monthly.

 

·         Contractor shall attend monthly meetings to provide technical expertise to IACUC members on new animal study protocols, amendments, and renewals applications.  IACUC meeting occurs on the second Tuesday of each month or on an alternate day as determined by the IACUC committee members.  Meeting materials shall be provided to Contractor for review by Government prior to each meeting and include meeting date, time and location.

 

·         Contractor shall attend semi-annual inspections of the NIMH animal facilities and procedural space where animals are housed and used in accordance with all approved animal study proposals.  Advance notification shall be provided by the Government to the Contractor of scheduled inspections to facilitate scheduling and attendance. 

 

·         Contactor shall, at the Government’s request, attend additional meetings to provide technical expertise for the American Association for Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) site visit preparations as well as other accreditation meetings/site visits.

 

LEVEL OF EFFORT:

A MINIMUM number of meetings requiring contractor support is identified in this Indefinite Quantity/Indefinite Delivery (IDIQ) contract, with the option to add additional meetings as needed. The Contractor shall be paid an Honorarium Per Meeting for daily cost of providing meeting support, to consist of meeting preparation, travel per diem, and other direct costs as applicable in accordance with the following cost schedule:

 

Period of Performance	Honorarium Per Meeting	Minimum of Meetings	Minimum Cost
Base Year: June 15, 2022 – June 14, 2023	$300.00	20	$6,000.00
Option Year 1: June 15, 2023 – June 14, 2024	$300.00	20	$6,000.00

 

Additional meetings at the Honorarium Per Meeting rate may be ordered through issuance of a task order by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR).

 

GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

Government shall provide Contractor meeting materials and on-site meeting space.  Meeting materials shall be provided prior to each meeting by either United States Postal mail, secure e-mail or fax. All data (inclusive of meeting materials) provided to the Contractor must be treated as confidential and not be disclosed to any third party. National Institute of Mental Health will provide data as needed to the Contractor each time it requests service. Data may only be stored on Government issued computer.

 

DELIVERY OR DELIVERABLES

Refer to Reporting Requirements.

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

Contractor shall submit a report, at a minimum, that includes the Contractor’s summary of meeting materials and recommendations made to IACUC Members on NIMH protocol submissions, amendments, and renewals applications for compliance or non-compliance with federal, state and biomedical research animal care and usage laws, policies and regulations. The report shall be provided to the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) within 3-business days after each IACUC meeting. Government reserves the right to require the Contractor to submit additional reports on as needed basis.  

 

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

 

Travel:

Travel as authorized will be reimbursed with prior approval.

 

Key Personnel:

The Contractor employee providing services for this effort shall be considered key personnel. Key Personnel requirements are as follows: 

·         Master’s degree or higher in the biological sciences or related studies from an accredited University.

 

·         Minimum of five (5) years of experience reviewing scientific literature on the care and use of laboratory animals in research and animal study protocols.

 

·         Contractor shall have experience with current federal laws, polices, and guidelines that encompass the care and use of animals in federal and biomedical research facilities.

 

• Contractor shall not be affiliated with the National Institutes of Health.

 

The proposed Key Personnel will become subject to the provisions of Health and Human Services Acquisition Regulation (HHSAR) Clause HHSAR 352.237-75 Key Personnel as follows:

The key personnel specified in this contract are considered to be essential to work performance. At least 30 days prior to the contractor voluntarily diverting any of the specified individuals to other programs or contracts the Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer and shall submit a justification for the diversion or replacement and a request to replace the individual. The request must identify the proposed replacement and provide an explanation of how the replacement's skills, experience, and credentials meet or exceed the requirements of the contract. If the employee of the contractor is terminated for cause or separates from the contractor voluntarily with less than thirty days’ notice, the Contractor shall provide the maximum notice practicable under the circumstances. The Contractor shall not divert, replace, or announce any such change to key personnel without the written consent of the Contracting Officer. The contract will be modified to add or delete key personnel as necessary to reflect the agreement of the parties.

 

The following individual(s) is essential to the work being performed here under:

Name	Title
To be determined in the contract award	Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) Consultant

 

It is required that all Contractors involved with the National Institute of Mental Health community to work collaboratively with federal staff and other contractors towards the National Institute of Mental Health’s mission and other affected organizations and follow the direction of the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), and/or the designated Federal Project Manager(s)/Lead(s).  This collaboration includes day-to-day activities, support, development, knowledge transfer and creating and sharing documentation when required.

Information System Security Plan:

The Contractor shall secure and protect all Contractor-owned property and equipment brought into Government facilities during performance of work under this contract. The Government shall not be held liable for loss of or damage to Contractor-owned property or equipment brought into Government facilities. The Contractor shall remove any Contractor-owned property deemed inappropriate by the Government, for any reason, from the Government facility in which it is found.

 

The Contractor must ensure that any computer system used in the course of this contract shall include the following features:

 

1. Any computer used in relation to this contract must be patched with most updated IT Security Patches.
2. Any Contractor computer used in relation this contract must have virus protection loaded and running with definition files that are updated on at least a daily basis.
3. Hard drives and portable media used for this contract must be encrypted using the FIPS 140-2 standard.
4. Contractors are required to take NIH Security and Privacy Training annually  http://irtsectraining.nih.gov/
5. Contractor are required to sign the NIH non-disclosure agreement  http://irtsectraining.nih.gov/NIH_Non-Disclosure_Agreement.pdf
6. Contractors are required to report any lost or stolen NIH data to the NINDS ISSO within one hour of knowing of the lost or theft even if the data is on a Contractor furnished computer.
7. Contractors are required to adhere to the NIH IT rules of behavior which can be found at  https://ocio.nih.gov/InfoSecurity/training/Pages/nihitrob.aspx
8. Any computers used in reference to this contract must be assessed for vulnerabilities.
9. Any computers used in reference to this contract must be backed up on an external hard drive which is password protected.
10. Any computers used in reference to this contract must have auditing enabled such that if an incident occurred then that event could be reconstructed.
11. Any computers that are used in reference to this contract must employ at a minimum user name and password authentication or if possible two factor authentication. 
12. Any computer used in relation to this contract must be password protected. All Password must meet the NIH standard.

 

Data Rights:

The National Institute of Mental Health shall have unlimited rights to and ownership of all deliverables provided under this contract, including reports, data updates and statistical results. 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.

 

Section 508—Electronic and Information Technology Standards:

Not applicable

 

Publications and Publicity:

Publication or publicity rights are not authorized under this contract.

 

Confidentiality of Information:

Confidential Information means information or data of a personal nature about an individual, or proprietary information or data submitted by or pertaining to an institution or organization. Confidential Information or records shall not be disclosed by the Contractor without written authorization from the Contracting Officer. Whenever the Contractor is uncertain with regard to the confidentiality of or a property interest in information under this contract, the Contractor should consult with the Contracting Officer prior to any release, disclosure, dissemination, or publication.

 

Non-Personal Service Statement

Contract employee performing services will be controlled, directed and supervised at all times by management personnel of the contractor. Actions of contractor employees may not be interpreted or implemented in any manner that results in any contractor employee creating or modifying Federal policy, obligating the appropriated funds of the U.S. Government, overseeing the work of Federal employees, providing direct personal services to any Federal employee or otherwise violating the prohibitions set forth in Parts 7.5 and 37.1 of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR).