AJ11--Research Services - Public Health Approach to Firearm Injury and Suicide Prevention Pre-solicitation Notice with Intent to Sole Source

Pre-Solicitation Notice for notice of intent to award a sole source contract. This is not a solicitation. The Department of Veterans Affairs intends to negotiate a sole source contract for a five (5) year period with the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, Portland, OR 97239 to provide expertise to conduct research on a public health approach to firearm injury and suicide prevention among Veterans and related topics. Research Data Analysts, Biostatisticians, and Epidemiologists must possess master s or doctoral training in public health. Training and/or extensive experience in injury prevention is preferred. Research Assistants must have bachelor s degrees and training with extensive experience in public health, injury prevention, firearm injury prevention, and/or Veteran health promotion. Staff must be actively presenting at state, regional, and national conferences and publishing manuscripts on topics related to a public health approach to firearm injury prevention. Advanced expertise in subfields of a public health approach to firearm injury prevention among Veterans including the epidemiology of firearm injuries among Veterans in Oregon; suicide prevention; violence intervention programs; secure firearm storage; health promotion among Veterans; Extreme Risk Protection Orders; and cultural competency to communicate with firearm owners on the sensitive topic of firearm injury prevention. Staff must also have established relationships in Oregon with firearm-related organizations (e.g., businesses or enthusiast groups), Veteran-serving organizations, healthcare organizations, and other relevant organizations. Investigators and supporting staff have been utilizing OHSU to support a series of research projects that are related to Veteran health. OHSU is the primary academic affiliate of the VA Portland Healthcare System. 38 U.S.C. 8153 allows for sole source awards related to research with VA academic affiliates. Since the intent is to procure this on a sole source basis, no solicitation will be posted to Contract Opportunities on SAM.gov. The applicable NAICS code is 541720 with a $20 MIL size standard. The PSC is AJ11. The authority for this action is FAR 6.302.5 Authorized or Required by Statute. Interested persons may contact the Contracting Officer via email at annmarie.stewart@va.gov regarding this procurement. The determination to conduct a competitive procurement based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Contracting Officer.