Academics demand apology for scientist investigated for China ties but never charged
-
-
Bluesky
-
-
-
-
-
X
Neuroscientist Jane Ying Wu was the subject of an investigation by the US National Institutes of Health as part of US President Donald Trump’s China Initiative. Credit: Courtesy of Elizabeth Rao
University leaders are facing calls to apologize for their alleged treatment of a tenured neuroscientist who died by suicide after being investigated as part of US President Donald Trump’s China Initiative.
A letter signed by more than 1,000 academics from across the United States accuses Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, of “unjust treatment” of Jane Ying Wu, saying it disregarded the principle of innocent until proven guilty.
The letter, sent in February by the Asian American Scholar Forum and the Federation of Asian Professor Associations to university president Henry Bienen and dean Eric Neilson, cites an ongoing lawsuit that alleges discriminatory treatment of Wu, who died by suicide in July 2024. (If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please reach out through https://findahelpline.com.)
According to the lawsuit, which was filed by Wu’s estate last year, Wu was the subject of an investigation by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), beginning in 2019. But, Wu, who was a naturalized US citizen born in China, was never charged or found to have committed wrongdoing through her research ties to China. Wu had worked at Northwestern for nearly two decades and was a principal investigator on 31 NIH projects. In December 2023, Northwestern was apparently notified that the NIH investigation into Wu had ended, the complaint alleges.
China Initiative’s shadow looms large for US scientists