Framingham Heart Study

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) plans to renew the Framingham Heart Study (FHS). This acquisition will continue the FHS from February 1, 2025 through January 31, 2032. The overall aim of this renewal is to continue the FHS as a scientific resource for the research community to expand knowledge about the determinants of health and disease in heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders.

The overall goals of this acquisition are to (1) enhance statistical power to perform analyses of predictors of clinical events; (2) study the progression of risk factors with aging; and (3) identify new risk factors or interactions between risk factors that inform disease pathophysiology and/or disease progression.

The operational goals are to (1) continue retention, annual follow-up, and clinical event ascertainment of all FHS study participants; (2) maintain FHS data and biospecimen repositories and facilitate use of FHS data and biospecimens; and (3) conduct a limited clinical examination of the FHS participants as a platform for investigator-initiated ancillary studies.

The FHS is a long-term multigenerational study that aims to identify genetic and environmental factors influencing the development of cardiovascular and other diseases. Examination of over 5,000 residents of Framingham, Massachusetts was initiated in 1948 (this cohort is hereafter referred to as the “Original” participants). About two decades later, the offspring of the Original participants were recruited into the study (hereafter referred to as “Offspring”).

This was followed about three decades later by the third generation of original Framingham participants (hereafter referred to as “Generation 3”). In 2003, the New Offspring Spouse (NOS) Cohort began, which enrolled spouses of the Offspring Cohort if they were also parents of Generation 3 participants, to improve statistical power for family studies. In 2009, two minority cohorts (Omni Groups 1 and 2), which had been initiated by study investigators and funded by NIH grants, were integrated into the FHS contract.

The designs and timing of the Omni Groups 1 and 2 examinations match those of the Offspring and Generation 3 cohorts, respectively. Except for the Original cohort, each cohort has recently undergone repeat examinations approximately every 6 years. The aims stated above will be accomplished through one contract by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Study protocols will be refined by an Executive Committee.

It is anticipated that one Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) award with cost reimbursement Task Orders will be made in February 2025 for a period of seven years.