NIH, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, COB, 6701 Rockledge Dr MSC 7902, RKL2 Rm 6016, Bethesda, MD 20892-7902

A -- CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH STUDY -RETINAL READING CENTER POC Patricia A. Smith, Contracting Officer, (301) 435-0345. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute intends to negotiate on a non-competitive basis with the University of Wisconsin for services to perform as the Retinal Reading Center for the on-going Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS). Since 1988, the program has recruited, examined and followed a cohort of 5,888 persons aged 65 and older residing in four U.S. communities (Hagerstown, MD, Pittsburgh, PA, Winston-Salem, NC, Sacramento, CA) in a study of risk factors for the development and progression of coronary heart disease and stroke in the elderly. The University of Wisconsin has developed the protocol, purchased equipment, trained field center and reading center personnel and performed about 15,000 readings and interpretations for retinal artery photography scans for another NHLBI epidemiology study--the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities program from 1992 through 1996. The University of Wisconsin will use their protocol and expertise and four years of experience to provide identical services for the CHS program. This will allow for full comparability with ongoing field work and measurements and examinations of the CHS cohort with the ARIC cohort. The incumbent ARIC contractor has the unique capability to provide the required services to the NHLBI for this large scale research study based on their extensive experience in performing the ARIC contract, and based on the expertise of the study investigators who have developed a detailed methodology and protocol. Interested respondents must submit written capability statements demonstrating the research experience of their senior staff in quantitative measurement of hypertensive retinal artery changes, their ability to perform approximately 4,400 readings and interpretations of retinal artery photographs for the CHS study participants in a standardized and reproducible manner, including developing a protocol for CHS, training both Field Center and Reading Center staff, monitoring equipment performance and performing quality control functions, and analyzing and publishing the results of the data. Respondents must also demonstrate adequate facilities and staffing for performing the readings. Responses providing insufficient information for evaluation will not be considered. This is not a Request For Proposals. See Note 22. (0296)

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