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

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 in 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 describes 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.