Request for Information for the Management of a Multi-Partner Military Longitudinal Cohort Research

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) works within UK defence and security. Dstl is an executive agency of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) providing expertise and delivering cutting-edge science and technology for the benefit of the nation and allies.

This Request for Information (RFI) is not a bidding opportunity but a means by which industry can provide information. No further discussions with industry are planned at this stage. However, any future procurement activity will be advertised in line with public procurement regulations on the Defence Sourcing Portal and Contracts Finder.

Disease Non-Battle Injuries (DNBIs) remain a significant cause of morbidity and loss of operational readiness within the armed forces. Therefore, research that focuses on reducing the incidence of DNBIs by enabling the detection, prevention and treatment of injuries caused by Defence occupational, environmental and workplace stressors is a high priority. Monitoring of individuals and collecting data about them and the context in which they find themselves has the potential to provide insight into the risk factors associated with development of DNBIs and thus the ability to intervene early to the benefit of individuals. However, DNBIs are often complex, interconnected conditions. In addition, for several priority DNBIs, patterns and inferences in data will only be discernible with sufficiently long duration of collection to discern trends and supporting contextual evidence.

As a result Dstl are looking to implement a multi-year, multi-cohort longitudinal study in human health monitoring. Dstl anticipates, this study will be undertaken in partnership with several organisations (academic institutions, industry) who will each have expertise in specific scientific areas critical to understanding high priority DNBI issues, noting that these my change as the study progresses.