A Chinese national employed as a researcher at the MD Anderson Cancer Center was charged with allegedly stealing U.S.-funded cancer research and attempting to transport it to China. Yunhai Li, 35, was arrested in July at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston after border patrol discovered confidential medical records on his laptop during an inspection. He was preparing to board a flight to China.

Authorities allege Li violated federal laws by stealing trade secrets and tampering with government records. The Harris County District Attorney’s office stated the charges include Theft of Trade Secrets, a third-degree felony punishable by two to ten years in prison and fines up to $10,000, and Tampering with a Government Record, a class A misdemeanor carrying up to one year in jail and a $4,000 fine.

Li, who had worked at MD Anderson Cancer Center since 2022, was reportedly developing a vaccine to prevent breast cancer from spreading before abruptly resigning on July 1. Court documents reveal he uploaded nearly completed research to a Chinese server hosted on Baidu. Investigators found unpublished research data and articles representing trade secrets, including restricted confidential research materials, on the Chinese drive.

Prosecutors indicated Li had shared files with a personal Google Drive while employed at the cancer center but deleted them after being confronted. However, he also received funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and conducted research for The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University during his tenure at MD Anderson, which he failed to disclose as a conflict of interest.

A sworn statement attributed to Li admitted to retaining the data, stating, “I believe I have the right to possess and retain this data.” District Attorney Sean Teare emphasized the importance of safeguarding U.S.-funded medical research, asserting, “We have zero tolerance for any attempts that hurt our nation’s ability to pioneer critical medical breakthroughs.”