NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) on November 15th awarded Johns Hopkins University a “Patient Safety Monitoring in International Laboratories (SMILE) contract for $24,820,549. Currently, SMILE supports approximately 150 non-U.S. laboratories in 19 countries. SMILE will continue to support laboratories that are part of current and future NIAID sponsored clinical trial networks.
Clinical laboratories in the U.S. are required to meet Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) performance standards and participate in a variety of external proficiency testing programs.
However, non-U.S. accreditation organizations and providers of proficiency testing programs exist that vary significantly in their requirements and the level of oversight for clinical laboratories. The purpose of the contract is to evaluate initial and on-going laboratory capability and readiness to carry out NIAID-funded clinical trial protocols.
One of the goals is to maintain a computerized data management system and document library that will include lab performance data and guidance documents. During the course of the contract, additional specialized expertise may be needed to enhance existing computer software systems to accommodate documents similar to those managed by SMILE or received from other NIAID laboratory support.
If the Government elects to exercise this option during the contract, than the contractor will need to provide additional full time equivalent employees with expertise in software development and support.
The period of performance will be for one year beginning November 2012 and will go through November 2013. The original RFP- (NIAID-DAIDS-NIHA12011-129) was posted December 1, 2011. The contract award number is HHSN272201300004C.
For more information, go to www.fbo.gov. The primacy point of contact is Ashley Virts at virtsa@mail.nih.gov.
On November 9, 2012, NIAID posted RFA-AI-12-055 titled “Limited Competition: Collaborative Partnership to Advance Global Biomedical Research Programs” Applicant organizations or institutions must have the infrastructure and capacity to extend NIH related research programs internationally.
One of the goals is to establish the infrastructure to help implement and successfully maintain NIH related successful worldwide biomedical collaborations. The focus is to make research findings available globally to facilitate global utilization of research findings, be able to coordinate evidence-based improvement in health, and assess and evaluate health-related programs focused on not only biomedical research but also on public health.
Eligible applicants many include institutions of higher education, non profits other than institutions of higher learning, for-profit organizations to include small businesses, governments, and others.
NIAID intends to commit $100,000 directs costs in FY 2012 to fund one award. A letter of Intent is due December 18, 2012 with applications due January 18, 2013.
Go to http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-AI-12-055.html for more information.
