Notice Number: NOT-HL-17-543

Key Dates
Release Date: September 20, 2017

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

Purpose

As part of the Strong Heart Study renewal, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), plans to solicit proposals from qualified organizations to establish:

• One Coordinating Center
• Three Field Centers

The Request For Proposals (RFPs) can be accessed through the FedBizOpps (https://www.fbo.gov/) or through the NHLBI website at the following address https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/research/funding/opportunities. The electronic RFPs contain all information needed to submit a proposal.

Research Initiative Details
The Strong Heart Study (SHS) is a longitudinal observational study of two combined cohorts followed prospectively: the original SHS cohort recruited in 1989 to 1991 and a Strong Heart Family Study (SHFS) cohort recruited in 1998 to 1999. The original and family cohorts together form the largest, multicenter, prospective epidemiological study of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Native Americans/ American Indians.

Overall, there have been six phases of the study, with each phase corresponding to a multi-year project period. In Phase I, the original SHS recruited 4,549 participants without regard to disease status from 13 tribes and communities in three geographic regions in the US: Oklahoma (OK), Arizona (AZ), and North and South Dakota (DA). The original cohort was examined three times from 1989 to 1999 (Phases I through III). The SHFS was initiated to complement the original SHS with the completion of a pilot family study in Phase III. A full-scale SHFS began in Phase IV with a total recruitment of 3,790 participants from 94 multigenerational families. The SHFS cohort was examined twice (Phases IV and V). The current phase (Phase VI) does not include a clinical examination but does include support for surveillance activities, data analysis, and study infrastructure. More information about the SHS can be found on the SHS website: http://strongheart.ouhsc.edu/.

The objectives of the renewal of the SHS program are to: (1) perform a limited examination of the cohort to identify clinical events of interest; (2) continue cohort follow-up for cardiovascular events; (3) support tribal community engagement activities to communicate health information and promote satisfaction with the SHS; (4) support training of junior investigators; and (5) provide a platform for ancillary studies particularly to the cohort examination.

This announcement is not a RFP and the Government is not committed to award a contract pursuant to this announcement. The RFP will be available in early October 2017 at the FedBizOpps website. Potential offerors are responsible for downloading the RFP and any attachments. It is also the offerors' responsibility to monitor the FedBizOpps web page for the release of any amendments to the RFP. Interested parties must respond to the solicitation in order to be considered for award of any resultant contract. This acquisition has been designated as a full and open competition under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 541712. Subcontracting opportunities are anticipated during the course of this contract award. Awards for the SHS study are anticipated to be made around November 2018. The RFP No. will be HHSN26818HV00001R for the Coordinating Center and HHSN26818HV00002R for the Field Center.

Inquiries

Please direct all Coordinating Center inquiries to:

Roxane Burkett
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Telephone:301-827-7535
Email: [email protected]

Please direct all Field Center inquiries to:

Sarah Bank
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Telephone: 301-827-7527
Email: [email protected]