TAMPA, Fla. — Moffitt Cancer Center is returning more than $1 million in state money.
Officials said Friday that they couldn't determine whether the money from the Florida Department of Health was properly spent by one of its scientists tied to a recent investigation into Chinese meddling.
The money originally was used to pay for the salary and staff of Howard McLeod, a senior member in Moffitt’s department of cancer epidemiology in Tampa. McLeod was forced to resign in December.
The Tampa Bay Times was first to report on the shakeup.
Also forced to resign were Moffitt's former CEO Alan List and four other scientists after an internal investigation found they did not disclose ties to Chinese recruitment programs.
At the center of the investigation was List's – and others' – connection to China's "Thousand Talents" program, which recruits American and European researchers.
Moffitt said in a statement its investigation found no evidence that patients or research at the cancer center were negatively affected.
“At Moffitt, we pride ourselves not only on our life-saving research and world-class patient care, but also on transparency and integrity among all our employees. This was an unfortunate but necessary decision,” said Moffitt board chairman Timothy J. Adams.
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