Risk Underlying Rural Areas Longitudinal (RURAL) H

What they want

• Act as the Study Coordinating Center for a new RURAL Expansion cohort in the rural Southern Plains
• Select up to 4 rural counties using rurality criteria comparable to the original RURAL cohort
• Plan and carry out the procurement of one or more mobile examination units (semi-trailer, customized RV, etc.)
• Recruit and examine up to 2,000 participants with a baseline clinical exam comparable to the original cohort (including CT imaging, echocardiography, lung function tests, blood and other samples)
• Follow participants over time and track hospitalizations and heart/lung events; lead classification of new clinical events
• Run community engagement in each county, including locally based community engagement coordinators
• Build and maintain the data and biospecimen repositories and integrate them with the original RURAL cohort
• Support data analysis, manuscripts, ancillary studies, and study closeout or transfer to a successor

What they'll judge offers on

• Approach (30 points)
• Personnel (25 points)
• Resource Management (20 points)
• Resource Sharing (15 points)
• Organization and Facilities (10 points)
• Past performance (evaluated after the technical evaluation)
• Section 508 accessibility compliance, Data Management and Sharing Plan, and inclusion plans for women, minorities and children (rated acceptable/unacceptable)

What to include when you submit

• Submit the Technical Proposal and the Price-Cost (Business) Proposal separately; searchable electronic copies only
• Create one PDF for the Technical Proposal and one PDF for the Business Proposal, each complete in itself and not referencing the other
• Include the NIH 'Breakdown of Proposed Estimated Costs (plus Fee)' Excel workbook in its original Excel format, plus a separate cost proposal for Task Areas A and B and a cost estimate for Task Area C
• Name files with the offeror name, solicitation number and proposal type (Technical, Business or Excel Workbook)
• Letter size pages, 10 to 12 point font, at least 1/2 inch margins, no web links, no audio or video files
• Complete and include the Section K representations and certifications in the Business Proposal
• Include a completed HHS Section 508 Product Assessment Template, a Data Management and Sharing Plan, and plans for including women, minorities and children
• Optional Public Health Surveillance Exclusion request goes in the technical proposal as a separate attachment
• Proposal intent form (Attachment 2) was due by e-mail on September 1, 2026, 3:00 PM EST, and clarification questions (max ten) were due the same day
• Create an eCPS account early; account setup can take up to three business days

You must have

• No small business or other set-aside is listed in SAM.gov, so the competition appears open to all offerors. A contractor registered in SAM.gov with a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) is needed for invoicing and representations. Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) which is in the System for Award Management
• Complete the Section K representations and certifications (responsibility matters, cost accounting standards, tobacco smoke, financial conflicts of interest policy, tax liability) and include them in the Business Proposal. This document must be completed and included as part of your Business
• Provide a plan for including children in the research (or a justification for excluding them), and plans for including women and minorities. An unacceptable plan can knock the proposal out. Your proposal must include a description of plans for including children.
• Show Section 508 accessibility compliance for electronic and information technology products and services, using the HHS Section 508 Product Assessment Template.
• Provide past performance references on comparable work. The evaluation will be based on information obtained from references provided by the Offeror,
• Key staff or collaborators need experience in population-based epidemiology, cardiovascular and pulmonary studies, CT imaging, biostatistics, genomics, laboratory science and mobile health technology; personnel may not be committed to more than 100% of their time across federal grants and contracts.
• Human subjects protections: institutions must hold an assurance of compliance and certify IRB (ethics board) review under the Common Rule.

Current contractor

No incumbent is named for this expansion. The original RURAL Heart and Lung Study began as cooperative agreement U01HL146382 (2019) and was renewed in 2026 under contract HHS 75N98026D00018, but the organization holding it is not named in the text provided.

Not in the notice text

• Page limits for the technical proposal (Section L, Item 2.a.6) were left out of the text provided
• How price is weighed against the technical score (start of Section M and Sections H and L were left out)
• Whether a small business subcontracting plan applies (an NIH subcontracting guide is attached but its applicability is not stated)
• Whether missing the September 1, 2026 proposal intent deadline affects eligibility
• Estimated cost for each period is listed as 'to be negotiated'; the exact value of task orders is unknown
• Report requirements and deliverables (Att_5) and the proposal intent form (Att_2) were not provided
• Middle sections of the solicitation and statement of work, including Section H special requirements and clauses, were left out
• Whether the competition is truly open or single source
• Where the prime contractor must be located; place of performance is blank in SAM.gov