Scientific Information Management and Literature‐based Evaluations for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

UPDATE 12/20/23: The Government is requesting additional information regarding competition barriers to entry. The Government is considering using OASIS Pool 4 as the contract vehicle for this procurement. Please respond to this notice by January 10, 2024 regarding whether or not there are any barriers to entry regarding the use of OASIS for this contract. Please provide responses via email to Erica Kitzmiller at erica.kitzmiller@nih.gov. Please only include information relating to this update in the email. Capability statements were previously due and are not being accepted at this time. The purpose of this request for information is to conduct additional market research regarding barrier to entry. 

Original Notice:

NOTE:  This notice is also attached for convenience.

1 INTRODUCTION
THIS IS A COMBINED REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)/SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY. This
Request for Information (“RFI”) is issued by the National Institutes of Health’s (“NIH”) National Institute
of Environmental Health Sciences (“NIEHS” or “the Government”) in accordance with FAR Part 15.201(e)
‐ Exchanges with Industry. It is solely issued for market research information and planning purposes. It
does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This RFI does
not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, NIEHS is not at
this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Responders are advised that NIEHS
will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs
associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party’s expense. Not responding to
this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. If a solicitation is released, it
may be synopsized on the SAM.gov website or issued through any number of existing Government
contract vehicles determined by the Government to be the best procurement approach (e.g., GSA
Federal Supply Schedule (FSS), Government Wide Acquisition Vehicles (GWACs), etc.). It is the
responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor any related solicitation sites used by the Government
for additional information pertaining to this requirement.

2 BACKGROUND
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), located in the Research Triangle Park,
North Carolina, is one of the 27 Institutes and Centers comprising the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The NIEHS is a multidisciplinary research institution with the primary mission of conducting research to
discover how the environment influences the development and progression of human disease in order
to promote healthier lives. NIEHS focuses on basic science, disease‐oriented research, global
environmental health, clinical research, and multidisciplinary training for researchers.
The Division of Translational Toxicology (DTT) is an intramural division of the NIEHS, NIH. DTT uses
traditional and cutting‐edge approaches to better understand how factors in the environment may
impact human health. Such approaches include using scientific expertise to identify, collect, analyze, and
interpret diverse types of information relevant to the effects of environmental exposures on human
health. Information from the fields of toxicology, epidemiology, chemistry, pathology, and other
disciplines is used in the design of research programs; in literature‐based health assessments; and in the
development of new tools and methodologies.

There are 9 requirement areas under this contract that support DTT within NIEHS. These requirement
areas include project management; scoping reviews of the environmental health literature; systematic
review and evidence synthesis; report development; document preparation and publication;
coordination and management of external peer review; logistical management for advisory group
meetings, interagency engagements, and workshops; provision of scientific or technical consultants with
expertise in relevant scientific disciplines; and development and implementation of novel tools and
methodologies. See the attached Draft Statement of Work (SOW; Attachment 1) for additional
information.

The NIEHS is issuing this SS/RFI to accomplish five (5) goals:
1) Facilitate early (pre‐Request for Proposal [RFP]) engagement with industry, in accordance with FAR
15.201(e).
2) Improve NIEHS’s understanding of market capabilities and current vendor offerings for provision of
the services as outlined in the Draft SOW (See Attachment 1).
3) Collect input and build knowledge on the vendors’ capabilities to provide the services outlined in the
Draft SOW.
4) Provide the specifications and set expectations with industry to support NIH’s commitment to fair
competition, in accordance with FAR 5.401.
5) Determine if there are small businesses capable of fulfilling the requirement.
 

NAICS Code and Size Standard
In the event that a Request for Proposal (RFP) is issued, North American Industry Classification System
(NAICS) code 541715 ‐ Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except
Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) with a size standard of 1,000 employees is being considered.
 

Anticipated Period of Performance
The anticipated Period of Performance is ten (10) years (a base year with nine (9) option years) with an
estimated start date of August 2025.
 

Contract Type and Contractor’s Accounting System
It is anticipated that the resultant contract will be a cost‐reimbursement type contract. Therefore, to be
considered for an award under the resultant solicitation, the offeror’s accounting system and practices
must be adequate and suitable for accumulating costs under government contracts. The offeror must
further certify that the accounting system is currently in full operation.
 

2.1 CAPABILITIES SOUGHT
The NIEHS seeks information on contract support to provide scientific and technical expertise and
support for activities including, but not limited to, those listed below and detailed in the Draft SOW
(Attachment 1). Award of a cost‐reimbursement, level of effort type contract is contemplated with the
anticipated period of performance for ten (10) years. The total estimated level of effort is anticipated to
be between 70,000 to 80,000 labor hours per year, including options, depending on the needs of NIEHS.
Project Management
• Planning and coordinating preparation of the work to be performed
• Maintaining accuracy and integrity of data, information, and work products
• Managing personnel and staffing
• Coordinating and scheduling human and other resources
• Timely communication

• On‐time submission of accurate invoices, deliverables, and reports
Scoping Reviews of the Environmental Health Literature
• Literature searching
• Literature screening
• Development and publication of scoping documents
Systematic Review and Evidence Synthesis
• Study quality, data interpretation, and scientific evidence integration
• Scientific data extraction, management, and visualization
• Development and publication of systematic review documents
Report Development
• Compiling reports describing research findings based on NIEHS guidance and laboratory
study reports
• Preparing reports in a predefined template and writing style
Document Preparation and Publication
• Preparing documents in a predefined template using a mix of graphical, tabular, and textual
formats
• Readying of documents for publication, including formatting, copyediting/technical editing,
and reference management
Coordination and Management of External Peer Review
• Identifying, screening, and corresponding with potential experts
• Development of conflict‐of‐interest packages
• Preparation of review documents
Logistical Management for Advisory Group Meetings, Interagency Engagements, and Workshops
• Planning and execution of internal and/or external meetings and events
• Advisory panel meetings, peer reviews, symposia, workshops, seminars
Provision of Scientific or Technical Consultants with Expertise in Relevant Scientific Disciplines
• Assistance with identifying and securing government and/or non‐government consultants
with appropriate expertise
• Obtaining and managing subcontracts with identified experts
Development and Implementation of Novel Tools and Methodologies
• Facilitate the utilization of novel methods and approaches for key areas of scientific
information management
o Literature‐based health assessments
o Evaluating research impact and effectiveness
o Vocabularies and ontologies

3 REQUESTED INFORMATION/RESPONSES
All interested parties are hereby invited to submit a capability statement in accordance with the
following constraints:
 Maximum of 15 pages in length submitted in Adobe Portable Document Format (.pdf), using the
numbered format below (Items 1‐8).
 Times New Roman font no smaller than 12‐point with one‐inch margins.
 Electronic file submissions must be less than 30 megabytes in size.
Additionally, the Government will review each capability statement based on the interested party's
demonstrated qualifications, capabilities, expertise, experience and past performance in each of the
areas. More specifically, capability statements should provide the following information and address
the following questions as appropriate and as applicable:
1. Company Information:
 Company Name:
 Point of Contact:
 Address:
 Phone #:
 E‐mail address:
 Cage Code:
 UEI:
 NAICS Code:
 Small Business Status: (“8(a)” Program, Women‐Owned Small Business concern (WOSB),
Economically Disadvantaged Women‐Owned Small Business concern (EDWOSB), HUBZone Small
Business concern (HUBZoneSB), Veteran‐Owned Small Business concern (VOSB), Service‐
Disabled Veteran‐Owned Small Business concern (SDVOSB), Small Business, Large Business,
Other)
2. Is your company currently capable of providing 100% of the requirements and objectives of the
subject requirement? (Explain)
3. Please describe capabilities and experience in the following areas:
1) Project management
2) Scoping reviews of the environmental health literature
3) Systematic review and evidence synthesis
4) Report development
5) Document preparation and publication
6) Coordination and management of external peer review
7) Logistical management for advisory group meetings, interagency engagements, and
workshops
8) Provision of scientific or technical consultants with expertise in relevant scientific disciplines
9) Development and implementation of novel tools and methodologies
4. What is the feasibility of solutions to accomplish the requirements detailed in the Draft SOW?
Identify any barrier(s) that exist(s). Please include only items that are related to the requirement as
described in the Draft SOW documents.
5. Describe your experience in a complex scientific research environment with respect to problemsolving
and working with various stakeholders, such as Investigators, Systems Administrators, and
Application Developers.
6. Provide up to three examples of projects of similar scope, and complexity to the NIEHS requirement
described herein—preferably with the Federal Government. Briefly describe the scope of work,
solutions designed/implemented, project management methodology, and best practices/lessons
learned. Please be sure to describe any commercial business practices that are unique to your
industry (if applicable).
7. Vendors are invited to submit comments on the Draft SOW. The comments should identify any gaps
in the SOW including areas requiring clarification, missing or ambiguous requirements, staffing
considerations and any other general comments or concerns. Vendors may also provide specific
comments and suggestions for refining the SOW to reflect clear guidance to industry and industry
best practices, as well as provide additional information that they think is relevant for developing
the acquisition strategy for this requirement.
8. Vendors are invited to submit comments on the anticipated NAICS code, period of performance and
anticipated contract type.

Standard product brochures will not be considered a sufficient response to this RFI. Any additional
comments that are not responsive to a particular RFI requirement/question should be separated
labeled as “Additional Comments” and included at the end of the response.
NIEHS reserves the right to use any and all information submitted by, or obtained from, an interested
party in any manner NIEHS determines is appropriate including, but not limited to, the creation of a
competitive solicitation. An interested party should avoid including any business confidential and/or
proprietary information in its response. However, if an interested party must submit such
information, the information must be clearly marked accordingly, and the interested party must
provide enough justification as to why such information is business confidential and/or proprietary.
NIEHS will review said information and safeguard it appropriately.
 

4 RESPONSE SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
All capability statements/responses shall be submitted electronically no later than 2:00 p.m. Eastern
Time (ET) on July 6, 2023 to Erica Kitzmiller, Contract Specialist, at the following e‐mail address:
erica.kitzmiller@nih.gov.

All questions in regards to this notice should be directed to Erica Kitzmiller at erica.kitzmiller@nih.gov.
NIEHS personnel may contact firms responding to this RFI to clarify a Responder’s capabilities and other
matters as part of this market research process.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the
information received or provide feedback to Responders with respect to any information submitted.
THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) / SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE (SSN) ONLY to identify sources
that can provide the services described herein. The information provided in the RFI/SSN is subject to
change and is not binding on the Government.

NIEHS has not made a commitment to procure any of the equipment, commodities, and services listed
herein, and release of this RFI/SSN shall not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to
incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All submissions become Government
property and will not be returned.