The primary purpose of the Specimens Task Order is to manage and safeguard all specimens belonging to the Epidemiology Branch Investigators. The Contractor will support activities related to management of specimens and assist with laboratory tasks for all Epidemiology Branch investigators where these tasks are not part of a specific study Task Order. For example, support for specimen collections resulting from prior completed field studies or those inherited from another research effort or institution will be covered under this Task Order. The Specimens Task Order also covers the operation and maintenance of the Contractor?s laboratory, which includes the costs associated with equipment and laboratory supplies that will be needed for all ongoing studies during the Contract period. Specimen activities will include collection, receipt, inventory management, processing, database reports, storage, and shipment. This will require coordination of protocols for the collection of body fluids and tissues, transport of specimens according to stringent specifications, separation into aliquots, simple cell isolation and cryo-preservation, DNA extraction for small sample sets, processing for long-term storage, and performing basic cell counts and urinalysis.
