Researcher Steals Cancer Data?

A Chinese researcher in Wisconsin is accused of taking an experimental anti-cancer compound and research data to a university in China.

Written byDan Cossins
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The Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer CenterWIKIMEDIA, DBKOVACHProsecutors have charged a Chinese researcher at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCOW) with stealing a potential anti-cancer compound and related data for a Chinese University, reported the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (MJS).

Huajun Zhao, an associate researcher in Marshall Anderson’s lab at MCOW, faces a single count of economic espionage, for which he could be fined a maximum of $5 million and sentenced to as many as 15 years in prison.

According to a statement (dated March 29) from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), security video shows that Zhao was the last person seen entering an office where Anderson had left several vials of C-25, a putative cancer-fighting compound, before they went missing and were later reported stolen.

The FBI statement reports that Zhao “may have used his employment and position at MCOW to illegally acquire patented research material and taken steps to provide that material to Zhejiang University, a university in China.” MCOW officials have ...

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