Days after the disclosure that MD Anderson Cancer Center moved to oust three Asian researchers found to be in violation of federal granting agency rules, a national federation of Chinese American organizations is expressing "grave concern" that ethnically Chinese scientists have become "collateral damage in the crossfire" of deteriorating U.S.-China relations.

In a statement citing the ousters at MD Anderson, United Chinese American said Chinese American scientists "have been made to feel increased scrutiny and increasing suspicion of their loyalties based on their ethnic background." It also noted that at least 10 such scientists at MD Anderson have recently retired, resigned, been fired or placed on administrative leave.

"Last week's news reports on what is likely the first wave of a crackdown targeting primarily Chinese American scientists at MD Anderson Cancer in Houston are unsettling," says the statement, "because of the manner in which the investigations were carried out and the fear they have generated."

The statement noted that no Chinese American scientist has been charged with a federal crime. The crackdown follows concerns expressed by U.S. government officials, including the FBI and Congress, about the threat to intellectual property from foreign governments.

The faculty ousters have roiled not just Chinese and Chinese American communities, but also MD Anderson, where administrators last week tried to assure employees the dismissals weren’t based on race or ethnicity. The assurances were made at a faculty town hall the day after the Chronicle and Science magazine broke the story.

The cancer center gave the Chronicle copies of internal documents that showed the results of investigations into concerns raised by the National Institutes of Health that five of its professors broke agency rules involving keeping peer review confidential or disclosing foreign ties.

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The cancer center invoked the termination process for three professors, two of whom resigned ahead of proceedings and one just beginning due process requirements. Officials determined termination was not warranted for one of the other professors and are still investigating the fifth.

In the article, MD Anderson President Dr. Peter Pisters said that “as stewards of taxpayer dollars invested in biomedical research,” the institution has an obligation to follow up when asked to investigate grant recipients. He denied MD Anderson engaged in racial profiling and called the investigations “part of a much larger issue the country is facing — trying to balance an open collaborative environment and at the same time protect proprietary information and commercial interests.”

The ousters were the first to become known since Dr. Francis Collins, director of the NIH, told a Senate panel earlier this month to expect related firings at institutions across the country soon. The agency has directed dozens of U.S. institutions to investigate possible rule violations by grant recipients.

The agency’s instructions come amid heightened government concern that China and other foreign governments are exploiting U.S.-funded research for their own benefit — such as enlisting researchers to share intellectual property from confidential grant applications or operate “shadow laboratories” in their countries. In 2018, FBI officials met with Houston medical and academic leaders to alert them to the threat.

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At the MD Anderson meeting last week, according to audio obtained by Science, chief scientific officer Giulio Draetta noted “I have a lab that’s half Chinese and half Italian” and said his Chinese students “are very concerned.”

One Chinese faculty member said that since the news of MD Anderson’s actions broke, he has been getting calls from around the world asking, “Is everything OK with you? Are you leaving MD Anderson?” He said, “Maybe that’s not the intention of the leadership, but that’s a consequence that a specific ethnic group has to bear.”

“There are competitors — international competitors, competitors within the country — who will make us believe … that MD Anderson is doing something wrong,” Draetta said in the recording. “We’re not doing anything wrong. We’re responding to the (NIH) letters.”

The United Chinese Americans statement says the deterioration of U.S.-China relations has endangered academic freedom, causing Chinese-American scientists who’ve made tremendous contributions to America to be questioned, investigated and suspended. It says some scholars with Chinese backgrounds or ties have been “forced to change the direction of their research or nature of their grant application or reduce or end reciprocal collaboration with China.”

To address the situation, the statement called on higher education and scientific communities in the United States to continue to uphold collaboration around the world. It also called for Chinese American scientists to adhere strictly to all applicable regulations and cooperate in reporting any breaches to appropriate authorities but to also to strengthen U.S.-China relations rather than retreat; for the Chinese government to protect U.S. intellectual property rights and improve its supervision of Chinese talent programs to reduce doubt other countries may have; and for U.S. law enforcement agencies to strengthen internal training and safeguards to reduce bias.

“The appeals outlined by United Chinese Americans should apply to all researchers and all countries,” Pisters said in a statement to the Chronicle Monday. “Now more than ever, we must unite in our collective efforts to accelerate discovery and accomplish” the goal of eliminating cancer.

todd.ackerman@chron.com

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