Chunk #48 — PART II. CORE QUESTIONS — D. If Data and Samples Can Be Re-identified, Are There Any Biobank Research System Responsibilities to Offer Return of IFs and IRRs? — The ethics of return in biobank research systems
These terms suggest that when secondary researchers return research results to the biobank, both the secondary researchers and the biobank will have an opportunity to spot those that should potentially be returned. Biobanks can anticipate this in their MTAs and DAAs or DUAs. The fact that secondary researchers are part of the larger biobank research system and that such researchers access and use data and samples according to biobank rules means that biobanks can address aspects of the IFs/IRRs problem in setting the terms of access and use. Specifically, biobanks can communicate any roster of returnable IFs/IRRs to secondary researchers; can ask those researchers applying for access to address whether the secondary research is likely to generate such IFs/IRRs and, if so, how they will be identified; and can require secondary researchers to communicate such IFs/IRRs back to the biobank so that they may be considered for return. Sharing with secondary researchers a concrete list of returnable findings may be the simplest and most efficient way to help secondary researchers flag any returnable IFs/IRRs.
