A researcher from the Houston area, Yunhai Li, has been formally charged with the theft of confidential breast cancer research data, as well as tampering with government records. These charges, which include a third-degree felony and a misdemeanor, were detailed in court documents filed last week. Li, aged 35, is accused of attempting to take proprietary research data out of the United States, which he acquired during his employment at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC).
Investigations reveal that Li resigned from his position at MDACC on July 1, intending to return to China. However, U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained him at George Bush Intercontinental Airport after discovering he had allegedly stored approximately 50 gigabytes of research data on his Baidu cloud account. This action raised concerns of unauthorized data storage and potential intellectual property theft, as MDACC maintained proprietary rights to the research data.
Prior to his departure, MD Anderson officials had confronted Li about the data on his personal account and instructed him to erase the information from his devices. Li reportedly expressed to investigators that he believed the research was not being fully utilized and felt he had a personal right to retain the data, reflecting his contributions over the previous three years.
Court documents also suggest that Li planned to seek employment at Chongqing University in China and intended to leverage the research in his future academic endeavors. This situation has escalated to include a broader federal investigation, with authorities probing potential charges of wire fraud and misuse of federally funded research.
MD Anderson Cancer Center has confirmed that they are cooperating with the ongoing investigation. In an official statement, the center clarified that as of July 1, 2025, Yunhai Li is no longer an employee, and institutional leaders are actively engaging with legal authorities to assist in the matter.
