The Department of Veterans Affairs is conducting market research to identify qualified small businesses, including SDVOSBs and VOSBs, capable of providing strand-specific RNA sequencing services for gene expression profiling of 269 human choroid plexus tissue samples in support of neurodegenerative disease research. The contractor must perform rRNA depletion library preparation, Illumina paired-end sequencing (2x150bp, ~60 million reads per sample) with a strand-specific protocol, and deliver raw FASTQ files with quality reports. Samples, accepted with RIN >6.0 and A260/A280 1.8–2.2, will be shipped from VA Bedford Healthcare System, and data must be delivered to the VA Principal Investigator via hard drive. The anticipated period of performance is one year from award, with a required turnaround of 23–28 business days from sample receipt to final deliverable. No budget amount is specified, and the performance location is not explicitly stated in the description.