RFP ANNOUNCEMENT: RESPIRATORY PATHOGENS REFERENCE LABORATORY - 
NIH-NIAID-DMID-03-37

Release Date: 

NOTICE: NOT-AI-02-037

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
 (http://www.niaid.nih.gov)

Receipt Date: October 15, 2002

DESCRIPTION

The Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID), of the National 
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of 
Health (NIH), is recompeting and expanding their current contract with the 
Baylor College of Medicine, Contract No. N01-AI-65298.  This solicitation 
will be a full and open competition, NAICS Code 541710, 500 employees.   

This RFP solicits proposals for reference laboratories to support the 
infection prevention program of the Respiratory Diseases Branch, DMID.  The 
Government has a need to continue this effort and expand reference laboratory 
support as part of the Bio-defense Research Agenda.  The focus of these 
laboratories will be the development of reagents and biological assays for 
bacterial and viral respiratory pathogens.  The Respiratory Pathogens 
Research Reference Laboratories will be part of a coordinated, interactive, 
multi-disciplinary network to help support the development of vaccines and 
drugs against respiratory pathogens, including those that present concerns 
for bio-defense and/or emerging infections. 

Separate proposals are solicited for separate parts of this solicitation:  
Part A - Bacterial Respiratory Pathogens Reference Laboratory and Part B - 
Viral Respiratory Reference Laboratory.   An offeror may respond to either 
Part A or Part B, or both.  It is anticipated that a total of two contracts 
will be awarded to successful offerors demonstrating capability of responding 
to the requirements of this solicitation. It is anticipated that two (2) 
cost-reimbursement, completion-type contracts will be awarded for a period of 
seven (7) years at an estimated level of effort 3.5 FTEs for each year (Part 
A) and 2.25 FTEs for each year (Part B).  These Bacterial and Viral Research 
Reference Laboratories will provide a resource facility with a major effort 
on reagent and assay development, including distribution of procedures and 
reagents, for the measurement of the human immune response to targeted 
respiratory pathogens.  

The Part A reference laboratory will focus on improvement and/or development 
of biological assays important for studying bacterial respiratory and 
relevant neonatal infections as well as related vaccines (e.g., Streptococcus 
pneumoniae, Bordetella pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae, Neisseria 
meningitidis, group A streptococcus (GAS), group B streptococcus (GBS), 
Chlamydia pneumoniae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and 
Burkholderia cepacia.).  The contract will provide a resource for assays and 
reagents, such as antigens, standard reference sera, and quality control 
samples and serve as a repository for their storage and distribution.  
Further, analytical methods will be developed, evaluated, and validated to 
accurately compare immunogenicity results within and between laboratories for 
different vaccines.   

The Part B reference laboratory will focus on improvement and/or development 
of biological assays important for studying viral respiratory and relevant 
neonatal infections as well as related vaccines (e.g., influenza, respiratory 
syncytial virus (RSV), parainfluenza, adenoviruses, rhinoviruses, and 
coronaviruses).  The contract will provide a resource for assays and 
reagents, such as antigens, standard reference sera, and quality control 
samples and serve as a repository for their storage and distribution.  
Further, analytical methods will be developed, evaluated, and validated to 
accurately compare immunogenicity results within and between laboratories for 
different vaccines.

Once awarded, the Respiratory Pathogens Reference Laboratories will become a 
part of a multi-disciplinary Respiratory Pathogens Research Network (RPPN).  
This network will include contracts for Respiratory Pathogens Research Units 
that support basic and clinical research involving bacterial and viral 
respiratory pathogens.  The Respiratory Pathogens Research Units will be 
awarded through a separate solicitation entitled "Basic and Clinical 
Approaches to Controlling Human Respiratory Pathogens", RFP-NIH-NIAID-DMID-
03-05 that is also posted at this time.  

RFP-NIH-DMID-03-37, will be available electronically on the CMB Homepage on 
or about July 16, 2002, may be accessed through the NIAID Contract Management 
Branch (CMB) Home Page at:  http://www.niaid.nih.gov/contract and will be 
posted on Fed Biz Opps: www.fedbizopps.gov.  Any responsible offeror may 
submit a proposal that will be considered by the Government.  This 
announcement does not commit the Government to award a contract.  No collect 
calls will be accepted.  No facsimile transmissions will be accepted.  

Contracting Office Address:
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Contract Management Branch 
6700-B Rockledge Drive
Room 2230, MSC 7612 
Bethesda, MD, 20892-7612

Point of Contact: 

Nancy Hershey
Contracting Officer
Phone 301-496-0193
Fax 301-402-0927
Email: nh11x@nih.gov

Barbara Shadrick,
Senior Contracting Officer
Phone 301-496-7288
Fax 301-402-0972
Email: bs92y@nih.gov

Return to Volume Index

Return to NIH Guide Main Index

	Office of Extramural Research (OER)			National Institutes of Health (NIH) 9000 Rockville Pike Bethesda, Maryland 20892			Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Note: For help accessing PDF, RTF, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Audio or Video files, see Help Downloading Files.