National Institute of Mental Health, Contracts Management Branch, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rm. 9C-15, Rockville, MD, 20857-8030

A -- BRAIN MOLECULAR ANATOMY PROJECT: FEASIBILITY STUDIES SOL BAA/RFP. No. NIMH-98-DB-0010 POC Contracting Officer, David Eskenazi or Patricia Gibbons, (301) 443-2696 WEB: RFP-NIMH-98-DB-0010-Brain Molecular Anatomy Project: Feasibility Studies, http://www.nimh.nih.gov. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), NIH, propose a Brain Molecular Anatomy Project (BMAP) to establish a technology and informatics system to decipher the molecular anatomy of the brain. The ultimate goal of this research is to produce a catalog of all the genes expressed in the nervous system, and potentially to provide, as a public resource, a clone bank of these genes. The initial start-up component for BMAP will be a two year feasibility contract initiative whose objectives are to: 1)identify and determine the best methodologies and technologies for performing microdissection of brain tissue; 2) develop and improve techniques for preparing RNA and cDNA libraries from very small amounts of brain tissue; 3) improve and develop new techniques to assess the quality of the cDNA libraries prepared from microdissected brain tissue using high throughput sequencing; (4) develop methodologies to assess the quality of the cDNAlibraries prepared from microdissected brain tissue by determining gene expression representation using micro-array technology; and (5) implement the most scientifically advanced analysis and oversight methodologies to measure compliance for the interrelated objectives. This project requires expertise using state-of-the-art, cutting-edge technology and capabilities for refining existing technologies for the above objectives. Personnel in highly specialized areas of science, such as neuroanatomy, molecular biology, and genetics, along with the capabilities to use current informatics structures will be required. Offerors, including proposed subcontractors, may apply for one or any combination of the objectives. One important aspect is the integration between the separate objectives. It is a mandatory requirement that all Offerors agree to fully cooperate and interact with the other contractors for the purpose of completing the other objectives and must be willing to accept the contract while keeping the dat ain the public domain. Offerors must have personnel on staff with the required expertise and existing, appropriate laboratories. It is anticipated that contracts will be awarded for a maximum period of 24 months (one year plus one option year) each. This is not a Request for Proposals. Request for Proposals (RFP) No. NIMH-98-DB-0010 will be issued on or about April 15, 1998 as a Broad Agency Announcement as defined in FAR 6.102(d)(2) and 35.016. Proposals will be due approximately forty-five days after issuance of the RFP. THE RFP WILL BE AVAILABLE ELECTRONICALLY ONLY at URL http://www.nimh.nih.gov select Grants and Contracts then NIMH Request for Proposals (RFP) then select NIMH-98-DB-0010. It will be available fifteen or more calendar days after the issuance of this synopsis. OFFERORS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ROUTINELY CHECKING THE NIMH WEBSITE FOR ANY POSSIBLE SOLICITATION AMENDMENTS THAT MAY BE ISSUED. NO INDIVIDUAL NOTIFICATION OF ANY AMENDMENTS WILL BE PROVIDED. All responsible sources may submit a proposal that will be considered by the agency. (0084)

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