The inauguration of Michigan’s BioTrust for Health, a research biobank for leftover neonatal blood spots, posed several novel questions for the state’s Department of Community Health institutional review board. The IRB’s response to these questions affirmed that respect for persons requires consent from donors for tissue donation to a public health biorepository with a research mission. It also acknowledged that the existence of potential risks and benefits to groups as well as to individuals necessitated new institutional collaborations between the IRB and the appointed community oversight board for the BioTrust to foster consideration of the impacts on all stakeholders.

Key words/concepts: biobanking, informed consent, neonatal bloodspots, community oversight, charitable trust model of biobanking, institutional review boards