Under Contract

• The U.S. Special Operations Command awarded a $719,502 contract to the American Association of Suicidology to help study risk factors for suicide. The organization will support the Pentagon’s efforts in “recognizing and responding to suicide risk” and “develop and implement training to train military healthcare professionals to conduct psychological autopsies.” Psychological autopsies involve studying a person’s death and speaking with those who had contact with the person to reconstruct their thoughts and actions before they died. The contractor will be conducting psychological autopsies, collecting data and analyzing it for a “comprehensive study and report of [its] findings,” according to contract documents. 

{mosads}• North Pacific Wildlife Consulting, a firm based in Alaska, has contracted with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to collect data on the number of Steller sea lions along 1,900 nautical miles of coastline in Russia. In addition to the basic survey, the researchers will also be collecting “tissue, blood samples … and fecal samples to provide diet information,” contract documents say. The contract, which could last up to five years, is worth a maximum of about $5.66 million and includes some travel expenses. It requires the scientists and staff to analyze the data they collect on the “Steller sea lion population in Russia and to present and publish results at professional meetings and in peer-reviewed scientific journals.” Staff members must be fluent in both Russian and English. 

• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) awarded a $154,326 contract to TSE Systems Inc., a company that manufacturers research equipment technology. The company is to provide a “rodent telemetry system” as required by the FDA, the Center for Tobacco Products and the National Center for Toxicological Research.  Contract documents say the device is needed for a “nose-only inhalation toxicology study to monitor the animal’s heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature.” Documents do not elaborate further about the nature of the study. The contract can last up to five years and includes maintenance on the equipment. 

Contract information compiled from General Services Administration data and government press releases. Send announcements about government contracts to mwilson@digital-staging.thehill.com.