The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Office of Acquisitions (OA) intends to award a sole source purchase order to UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL located at 300 Kenan Center Drive, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-5056, to perform consultation on study design, mouse behavioral testing, data analysis, and written research reports on findings from the phenotyping studies.

The scope of services in this contract includes consultation on study design, mouse behavioral testing, data analysis, and written research reports on findings from the phenotyping studies. Although the amount of testing for each individual study from NIEHS will differ, the overall scope of testing in this contract is expected to involve approximately 6-7 studies each year, with ~40 mice per project, typically tested across 10-12 weeks.

The goal of the contract is to provide access to a well-equipped mouse behavior testing facility that offers a broad phenotyping regimen. NIEHS investigators will be able to have their mouse models evaluated across multiple functional domains, including motor and sensory ability, activity, anxiety-like responses, social interaction, restricted interests, repetitive behavior, and cognition. The results from these behavioral studies could provide new information on the function of specific genes, the consequences of environmental exposure, and other factors influencing behavior. Significant findings will be reported by NIEHS investigators in publications, presentations, or other formats for dissemination of research.