NOI - A Non-Invasive Prognostic Biomarker - Circul

The National Institutes of Health is issuing a non‑competitive RFQ to award a firm‑fixed‑price purchase order to the University of Alabama at Birmingham for research support to develop and validate circulating cell‑free DNA (cfDNA) as a blood‑based biomarker of chlorine‑induced acute lung injury. The work will be performed on‑site at UAB and includes animal model execution, extensive biochemical, histopathological, and molecular analyses, and integration with an existing human biorepository. • Conduct a validated murine chlorine inhalation model (≈288 mice) with scheduled tissue collection. • Perform a suite of assays – BAL protein, cytokine profiling, histology, lung edema, blood gases, ENaC function, hemopexin, heme, and mitochondrial DNA damage. • Integrate murine data with human aspiration pneumonitis biorepository to establish cfDNA as a prognostic biomarker, and deliver a comprehensive final technical report.