Education

EXCLUSIVE: University Of Washington Scrubbed Pentagon-Funded Professor’s Ties To Chinese Military Firm, Report Finds

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One of the most federally funded universities in America quietly removed its professor’s ties to a Chinese company, a new report found.

The University of Washington maintained a years-long research relationship with Shanghai biotech firm Origincell Technology Co., Ltd., primarily through mechanical engineering professor Dayong Gao, according to a Strategy Risks report obtained and reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation. Gao’s cryopreservation research at the Center for Cryo-Biomedical Engineering and Artificial Organs was funded by the Department of War, among other federal agencies, before the department identified Origincell as a Chinese Military Company.

The Department of War first listed the company as a Chinese military company operating in the United States in Jan. 2025, according to a Federal Register notice. The department restated the listing in June 2026 and said Origincell is “indirectly affiliated” with the People’s Liberation Army, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and other Chinese defense-industrial bodies, the designation notice stated.

Origincell builds automated freezers to store human cells and other biological samples, according to the company’s ‘About’ page.

Gao received the “Origincell Endowed Professorship” at a Jan. 2017 ceremony attended by Origincell executives and university officials, including UW Vice Provost Jeffrey Riedinger, College of Engineering Dean Michael Bragg and Mechanical Engineering Department Chair Per Reinhall, a UW Mechanical Engineering release said.

The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering still identified Gao on March 30, 2020, as “Origincell Endowed Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Bioengineering, University of Washington,” according to its induction notice.

Gao “worked as chief scientist in Origincell” in October 2017, Origincell’s Orcella equipment-site history states. The Society for Cryobiology and the Chinese Institute of Engineers’ Seattle chapter still describe him as “Origincell Endowed Professor” on their respective websites, while his current UW faculty page does not mention this title.

Gao’s UW biography page mentions that his work “has been continually supported” by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation (NSF). He completed an NIH-supported postdoctoral fellowship in cryobiology in the early 1990s, according to a 2023 International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories election biography.

Gao and Origincell each did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

“When that designation was established, the University’s International Agreements Risk Assessment Committee undertook a review and took appropriate action regarding the associated endowment and professorship,” University of Washington spokesman Victor Balta said in a statement to the DCNF. “As a result of that review, the University determined that no additional awards would be made from the endowment, and references to the Origincell professorship were removed from public-facing materials.

“Because the professorship term had already concluded, the website update was largely a formal administrative change reflecting the University’s decision regarding future use of the fund,” Balta added.

Origincell Endowed Professorship was a $1 million gift signed in late 2016, and Gao received annual payouts from it, Balta told the DCNF. After the 2025 military-company listing, UW reviewed the endowment, stopped future awards, and took the title off public pages, Balta explained.

“The University requires Research Security training in accordance with federal requirements, full disclosure on current and pending (other) support, to which an individual certifies, and that all University policies are followed, including conflict of interest, outside work, and intellectual property protection,” Balta told the DCNF. “UW’s research compliance program describes the hallmarks of a foreign talent program, to help individuals and departments identify and receive assistance on next steps and routinely provides presentations/consultation to groups across campus. The University expects that all UW personnel follow University policy and specific sponsor requirements.”

Gao co-authored a 2021 paper in “Biopreservation and Biobanking” with Origincell President Helen Yang, CTO Xiaowen He, and other Origincell-affiliated researchers, according to Sage Journals.

A 2015 Capital University of Economics and Business news release listed Gao with honorary or guest roles at the Academy of Military Medical Sciences and the People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, the university report said. Those titles do not appear on Gao’s English UW biography page.

The House Select Committee on China told the NSF in a March 2026 letter to pause funding and review UW over “high-risk research relationships” with Chinese military- and defense-linked institutions, Chairman John Moolenaar wrote. The letter did not name Origincell.

The University of Washington enrolled 7,439 international students on its Seattle campus in fall 2025 including 3,452 from China, which is the largest national group represented on the campus, the Seattle Times reported. The Chinese Student Association, a registered student organization with more than 300 members, promotes Chinese culture on campus, the organization’s website states.

The University of Washington ranked third among U.S. universities in FY 2024 federal science and engineering obligations, at about $912 million, according to NSF data. The university separately reports $1.39 billion in federal research funding in FY 2025, according to its research office website.