Former UF professor indicted for scheme to defraud NIH, UF, colluding with China
Indictment alleges Yang intentionally concealed conflicts of interest in China
University of Florida
and last updated 2021-02-09 10:12:27-05
Editor s Note: This story has been updated to correct the name of the university associated with Lin Yang from Northwestern Polytechnic University to Northwestern Polytechnical University.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WTXL) - A former University of Florida professor/researcher and resident of China has been indicted for fraudulently obtaining $1.75 million in federal grant money from the National Institutes of Health by concealing support he received from the Chinese government and a company that he founded in China to profit from that research.
“The taxpayer dollars that funded Yang’s research were intended to benefit the health and well-being of U.S. citizens,” U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida Lawrence Keefe said in a statement. “But our indictment alleges that Yang engaged in acts of deliberate deception so that he could also further the research goals of the Chinese Communist government and advance his own business interests.”
According to the indictment, Yang obtained the grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop an imaging tool for muscles known as “MuscleMiner.” He served as the principal investigator for the NIH grant at UF from September 2014 to July 2019.
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“The taxpayer dollars that funded Yang’s research were intended to benefit the health and well-being of U.S. citizens, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida Lawrence Keefe said in a statement. “But our indictment alleges that Yang engaged in acts of deliberate deception so that he could also further the research goals of the Chinese Communist government and advance his own business interests.”
According to the indictment, Yang obtained the grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop an imaging tool for muscles known as “MuscleMiner.” He served as the principal investigator for the NIH grant at UF from September 2014 to July 2019.