Notice Number: NOT-HL-16-482

Key Dates
Release Date: January 10, 2017

Issued by
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Purpose

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to solicit input from the microbiome research community about opportunities, appropriate biospecimens, collection strategies, appropriate infrastructure, critical needs and key questions that will advance research to clarify the role of the microbiome, including the virome and mycobiome, in predisposing to heart, lung, and blood diseases and sleep (HLBS) disorders in HIV-infected individuals.

Background

One of the key features of HIV infection is persistent immune activation. Heightened chronic immune activation and associated inflammation in HIV-infected individuals are associated with increased age-related diseases including cardiovascular diseases. Given that microbial colonization and translocation of bacteria and bacterial products are thought to contribute to HLBS diseases, understanding the role of the microbiome in HIV-infected individuals might offer insights into development of better strategies for treatment and prevention of HIV-related HLBS diseases.

Information Requested

This RFI is intended to solicit perspectives and comments from the broad community on scientific opportunities, critical needs and strategies, and infrastructure available for conducting microbiome focused research in HIV-cohorts. NHLBI seeks comments on any or all of the following topics but not limited to:

• The types of biospecimens most amenable for microbiome research and the body sites most valuable to sample
• The frequency of sample collection and sampling strategies that would be most useful in a longitudinal prospective cohort and associated sample storage strategies
• Types of microbiome assays and associated functional analyses
• Enabling technologies and approaches for biospecimen collection at home by the participant, and suitable shipping methods back to the sample processing facility
• Infrastructure for processing and analysis of biospecimens and associated quality control metrics
• Long-term stability and feasibility of using archived biospecimens

Submitting a Response

All responses must be submitted via email to MicrobiomeRFI@collaboration.nhlbi.nih.gov by February 24, 2017. Please include the Notice number NOT-HL-16-482 in the subject line. Responders are free to address any or all of the categories listed above. The submitted information will be reviewed by NIH staff.

Responses to this RFI are voluntary. Please do not include any proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information in your response. NIH will use information submitted in response to this RFI at its discretion and will not provide comments to any responder’s submission. The collected information will be reviewed by NIH staff, may appear in reports, and may be shared publicly on an NIH web site.

The government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in summaries of the state of the science, and any resultant solicitation(s). The NIH may use information gathered by this RFI to inform development of future funding opportunity announcements.

This RFI is for information and planning purposes only and should not be construed as a solicitation or an obligation on the part of the Federal Government, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), or individual NIH institutes and Centers. NIH does not intend to make any awards based on responses to this RFI or to otherwise pay for preparation of any information submitted or for the Government’s use of such information. No basis for claims against the U.S. Government shall arise as a result of a response or from the Government’s use of such information.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Pothur Srinivas
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Telephone: 301-402-3712
Email: MicrobiomeRFI@collaboration.nhlbi.nih.gov