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A Chinese researcher who formerly worked at the MD Anderson Cancer Center was charged for allegedly attempting to steal U.S.-funded cancer research and take it to China.
Authorities arrested Yunhai Li, 35, at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston in July after border patrol discovered confidential medical records on his laptop during an inspection.
Li was scheduled to board a flight to China.
“Former MD Anderson cancer researcher Yunhai Li charged with Theft of Trade Secrets (third degree felony) and Tampering with a Government Record (class A misdemeanor),” the Harris County District Attorney stated.
“Theft of Trade Secrets carries a penalty of two to ten years in prison and fines up to $10,000. Tampering with a Government Record is punishable with up to a year in jail and a $4,000,” it added.
Former MD Anderson cancer researcher Yunhai Li charged with Theft of Trade Secrets (third degree felony) and Tampering with a Government Record (class A misdemeanor).
Theft of Trade Secrets carries a penalty of two to ten years in prison and fines up to $10,000. Tampering with… pic.twitter.com/q2NdtbYcVt
— Harris County District Attorney (@HarrisCountyDAO) August 25, 2025
More from the New York Post:
The Chinese national, who was employed as a researcher at MD Anderson Cancer Center since 2022, was reportedly working on a vaccine to prevent breast cancer from spreading before abruptly quitting on July 1 and uploading the nearly-completed research to a Chinese server on his computer.
“Houston is proudly home to some of the most groundbreaking medical institutions in the world – publicly funded centers that are saving lives each day thanks to their innovative research,” District Attorney Sean Teare said in a statement.
“We have zero tolerance for any attempts that hurt our nation and our community’s ability to pioneer critical medical breakthroughs.”
Prosecutors said Li uploaded his research to his personal Google Drive while employed at the cancer center, and when caught by the institution, deleted the files and proved he had done so.
But Li – whose potentially life-changing work was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense – was also being paid by Chinese entities and had shared his files to a similar drive on a Chinese server called Baidu, court documents showed, Fox 26 reported.
“We were able to detain him as he was trying to get on a flight to China,” Teare said, according to FOX 26 Houston.
“There was a pretty good chance that he was going to get deported or leave the country – so we needed to file something. We needed to make sure that he was going to stay here, the information was going to stay here, and he was going to be held accountable,” he added.
MORE – Li said he downloaded about 90 gigabytes worth of files and folders for research funded by the NIH and DOD and intended to “continue his research” in China. His research visa was approved by the U.S. State Department.https://t.co/m4FaO3DfeF
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) August 26, 2025
FOX 26 Houston shared additional details:
Documents say on the Baidu drive, investigators found, “unpublished research data and articles representing trade secrets, including material-restricted confidential research data, writings, drawings and models.”
“That intellectual property stays with us, so we can save lives,” said Teare.
Documents also say Li was receiving grant funding through the National Natural Science Foundation of China as well as performing and publishing research for The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University prior to and during his employment at MD Anderson, saying Li did not disclose the conflict of interest.
In the documents is a sworn statement signed by Li admitting to the acts, saying in the text, “I believe I have the right to possess and retain this data.”