Former Cleveland Clinic researcher arrested over undisclosed ties to Chinese tech espionage program: 4 details

A former Cleveland Clinic researcher was arrested May 13 and charged with failing to disclose his ties to a Chinese government program in applications to receive National Institutes of Health funding.

Four things to know:

1. Dr. Qing Wang is charged with false claims and wire fraud after his research group at the Cleveland Clinic received $3.6 million in grant funding. The federal government alleges Dr. Wang knowingly omitted his affiliation with Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China and funding he received from the National Natural Science Foundation of China for the same research.

2. The federal government also alleges that Dr. Wang participated in China's Thousand Talents Program, which recruited individuals that had access to foreign technology and intellectual property to share with the Chinese government.

3. Cleveland Clinic terminated Dr. Wang's employment after an internal review found that he did not disclose his foreign research ties to the health system. The health system said in a statement that it is cooperating with law enforcement and conducting its own investigation, according to a Cleveland.com report.

4. Dr. Wang asserted his innocence through his attorney. His work at Cleveland Clinic focused on genetics and cardiovascular disease, according to the Washington Examiner.

More articles on health IT:
Judy Faulkner: 5 areas of focus for Epic right now
The hospital room of the future: Dr. Alistair Erskine's 5 predictions
The potential second surge of COVID-19 patients & 'new normal' post pandemic: 3 insights from hospital IT leaders