National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Contracts Operations Branch, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 6100, MSC 7902, Bethesda, MD 20892

R -- OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF A CHIMPANZEE LONG-TERM HOLDING FACILITY SOL NHLBI-RR-P-00-595 DUE 071700 POC Kathleen Jarboe, Contract Specialist, (301) 435-0366 WEB: NHLBI Funding Opportunities, http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/nhlbi/rafs/rfas.htm. E-MAIL: Kathleen Jarboe, jarboek@nhlbi.nih.gov. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) seek a Contractor to operate and maintain a chimpanzee facility located at the Holloman Air Force Base (HAFB) in Alamogordo, New Mexico. The intended procurement will be classified under SIC 8744, Facilities Support Management Services, with a size standard of $5M. This chimpanzee facility has the capacity to house approximately 350 animals, including animals that have been used in biomedical research. To address the national need for maintenance and preservation of a large proportion of chimpanzees nationwide, NIH has assumed ownership of approximately 300 chimpanzees and is seeking a Contractor to operate and maintain the associated long-term care facility. The proposed contract will not alter ownership of the animals. Title (ownership) to the animals at the onset of the contract will be held by the Federal Government. However, the Federal Government reserves the right to transfer title of these animals to other institutions. In addition, fewer than 50 privately owned animals may be transitioning from the HAFB facility to a privately owned facility located off the base. Most of the animals have been exposed to microorganisms such as hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Therefore, these animals have special needs for care and housing. The Contractor shall furnish the necessary on-site management and personnel for the operation and maintenance of the HAFB chimpanzee facility. These services generally include, but may not be limited to the following: 1) Routine animal care, housing, nutrition and hygiene; 2) Sanitation and cleaning of the equipment and facilities; 3) Environmental monitoring of facilities, including vermin control and security; 4) Animal health surveillance, observations, identification, written and computerized record keeping; 5) Animal handling, restraint, and technical laboratory animal procedures; 6) Veterinary medical assistance, treatments/medications, induction of anesthesia and surgical assistance; 7) Clinical laboratory technical support; 8) Interstate shipping of laboratory animals; 9) Animal transportation within the HAFB site; 10) Environmental enrichment for chimpanzees; 11) Maintenance of equipment and supplies or other logistical support; and 12) Appropriate management oversight. The following job categories are representative of the types of personnel necessary to perform the requirements of the proposed contract: 1) Principal Investigator (PI) who must have significant successful experience in the management of chimpanzee facilities; 2) Deputy Principal Investigator who must have the capability to act as Interim Director in the absence of the Principal Investigator. At least one of the PI or Deputy PI must possess a veterinary degree and a current state veterinary license, and provide up to 50 percent effort in clinical duties if and when the Clinical Veterinarians described below are unavailable; 3) Two Clinical Veterinarians who possess a degree in veterinary medicine, a current state veterinary license, be board-certified in laboratory animal medicine, and have three or more years experience in nonhuman primate medicine supporting biomedical research programs; 4) Program Administrator who will support all necessary administrative functions for the HAFB site, and work closely with the Contractor's main site regarding IACUC approvals, personnel actions, payrolls, report preparations, etc; 5) Information Technologist who must possess a degree in computer science, or equivalent demonstrable knowledge and experience regarding information management associated with animal colonies. The Information Technologist must be experienced and knowledgeable regarding basic network administration and personal computer applications, including: spreadsheets, databases, electronic mail, networking, and graphic software. The Information Technologist must assist with computerized record keeping, data entry and report generation, and similar associated animal facility data-processing tasks. Some experience with the International Species Information System (ISIS) "ARKS" software is preferred; 6) Behaviorist shall provide environmental enrichment and work with the veterinarians to ensure the psychological well-being of the HAFB chimpanzees. At least two years of experience providing environmental enrichment to nonhuman primates, and at least a Bachelor's degree are required; 7) Clinical Laboratory Technician shall provide technical assistance in running, or obtaining results from commercial laboratories or collaborators, routine clinical tests relevant to the chimpanzee's veterinary health or status regarding possible microbial infection and viremia. At least three years of experience providing a range of clinical laboratory procedures, and least a Bachelor's degree are required; 8) Colony Manager (on-site supervisor) shall be certified by the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS) as a Laboratory Animal Technologist(LATG) with at least six years experience in a laboratory animal facility, two of which must have been in a supervisory capacity. Formal education must include a minimum of a B.S. degree in animal science or other biological sciences; and 9) Laboratory Animal Caretakers who shall perform basic animal care duties under the guidance of supervisor(s). Animal Caretakers must be able to achieve AALAS Assistance Laboratory Technician Certification within one year of the onset of the contract. It is a mandatory qualification criterion that the Offeror's institution have an Office for Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW, formerly OPRR) Assurance Number, have a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) R Registration, and have previously demonstrated the ability to provide high quality care for chimpanzees. This ability could be demonstrated in several ways, such as possession of an Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International (AAALAC) accreditation and file number. The Contractor shall provide veterinary care and husbandry services at the HAFB chimpanzee facility 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, including weekends and Government holidays. The Contractor shall be responsible for ensuring the HAFB chimpanzee facility complies with standards established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Public Health Service (PHS). The Government intends to negotiate a five-year contract for the operation and maintenance of the HAFB chimpanzee facility. The Government anticipates that there will be a single contract award for this requirement. This is not a Request for Proposals (RFP). RFP Number NHLBI-RR-P-00-595 will be available on or about June 1, 2000 and may be accessed at the following URL location: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/nhlbi/rafs/rfas.htm. No paper copies will be available Posted 05/09/00 (W-SN453022). (0130)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0074 20000511\R-0006.SOL)