NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE, CONTRACTS MANAGEMENT BRANCH, OPRM 5600 FISHERS LANE, RM 10-49 ROCKVILLE MD 20857

A -- SPINAL CORD INJURY SURGICAL AND TROPHIC FACTOR REPAIR AND GAIT ANALYSIS SOL N01DA-7-9054 DUE 072397 POC Dale S. Weiss, Contracting Officer, 301-443-1301 (phone), 301-443-7595 (fax), dw79f@NIH.GOV E-MAIL: Dale S. Weiss, dw79F@NIH.GOV. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Intramural Research Program(IRP) is soliciting proposals from qualified organizations having in-house capability to perform specific experimental procedures that will duplicate published work that has demonstrated spinal cord regeneration is possible. The research will build on work published by Drs. Cheng, Cao and Olson in Science 96. The project will study spinal cord regeneration and trophic factor repair using techniques developed by Drs. Cheng, Cao a nd Olson. The contractor will be required to carry out experiments using multiple (18) fine peripheral nerve graft bridges across spinal cord lesion, that reroute and regenerate nerve fibers from white matter to grey matter; using precisely defined positioning of the nerve grafts and stabilization of the engrafted area with fibrin-based tissue glue. Research will focus on electrophysiological analysis of the connections across the repaired spinal cord. The studies carried out by this contract will evaluat ewhether patterns of activity in motor neurons, sensory neurons and interneurons in several spinal cord areas can be normalized by current or improved repair protocols. This research project will also provide detailed gait analysis of the hindlimb function using specialized testing techniques (e.g. the Open Field Walking Score and the Combined Behavior Score) in animals that have had the repair strategies done. The contractor will be required to observe and analyze the gait of rats after spinal cord regene ration. The contractor must have experience and expertise in spinal cord regeneration, complex gait analysis, synapse formation, fibrin-based tissue glue, trophic factor repair, regeneration of white matter and related neurotrophic factors. It is anticipated that one (1) cost reimbursement, completion or fixed price type contract will be awarded for a period of two years. RFP No. N01DA-7-9054 will be available electronically on or about June 23, 1997, and may be accessed through the NIH Gopher and/or the Internet by using the following electronic mail addresses and instruction: 1) NIH Home Page (via the World Wide Web): Access the NIH Home Page by using http://www.nih.gov . Once you are at the NIH Home Page, select "Grants and Contracts"; select "NIH Gopher directory: listed under the "Contracts Page" section. Once at the NIH R&D Gopher, select "RFPs Available"; select "NIDA"; and select "RFP N01DA-7-9054". (URL: gopher://gopher.nih.gov:70/11/res/rd-rfp) 2) NIH Gopher: Point your Gopher client to GOPHER.NIH.GOV Port 70 (you should now be in the NIH Gopher). Select "Grant and Research Information"; select "R&D Request for Proposals (RFP)"; select "RFPs Available"; select "NIDA"; and, select "RFP N01DA-7-9054". Please note that the RFP for this acquisition will be streamlined to include only the Work Statement, deliverable and reporting requirements, special requirements and mandatory qualifications, Technical Evaluation Criteria, and proposal preparation instructions. All information required for the submission of an offer will be contained in the electronic RFP package. Following proposal submission and the initial review process, offerors comprising the competitive range may be requested to provide additional documentation to the Contracting Officer. Response to this RFP will be due on or about July 23, 1997. Any responsible offeror may submit a proposal which will be considered by the Government. This advertisement does not commit the Government to award a contract. Point of Contact: Dale S. Weiss, Contracting Officer Electronic Mail Address: dw79f@nih.gov Telephone: (301) 443-1301 Fax: (301) 443-7595 (0156)

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