A ground-breaking microscope at Harvard Medical School could lead to breakthroughs in cancer detection and research into longevity. But the Russian-born scientist who developed computer scripts to read its images and unlock its full potential has been in an immigration detention centre for two months – putting crucial scientific advancements at risk.
The scientist, Kseniia Petrova (30), worked at Harvard’s renowned Kirschner Lab until her arrest at a Boston airport in mid-February. She is now being held at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Richwood Correctional Centre in Louisiana, and fighting possible deportation to Russia.
“I would call it a grinding machine,” said Petrova, who spoke to NBC News from Louisiana about being detained. “We are in this machine, and it doesn’t care if you have a visa, a green card, or any particular story. … It just keeps going.”
Petrova’s case and the detention of academics across the country has damaged the ability of universities in the United States to recruit and retain leading talent, experts and Petrova’s colleagues said.
In fields where expertise is often highly specialised, the loss of talent could have dire consequences globally for the future of medicine and scientific discovery.
Scientists and faculty members are planning to leave institutions across America, legal experts said, because they’re worried their visas could be revoked or that they could be swept up in immigration actions.
Petrova’s first immigration court hearing in Louisiana was scheduled for this week, and her lawyer said they expect to have more information on her asylum case after the hearing.
Dr Leon Peshkin, a principal research scientist at Harvard’s Department of Systems Biology and Petrova’s manager and mentor, said he received a call from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on 16 February after agents detained Petrova at Logan International Airport in Boston for failing to declare samples of frog embryos to be used in scientific research.
“We just got a call saying, ‘She’s denied entry. That’s all we can tell you to protect her privacy’,” he said. Peshkin added that the caller didn’t disclose Petrova’s whereabouts, and he battled to track her down.
Romanovsky said CBP typically imposes two penalties for such customs violations: the forfeiture of the items and a fine, usually around $500, and that “for a first-time violation, the fine is typically reduced to $50”. Instead, officials cancelled Petrova’s J-1 scholar visa.
A spokesperson told NBC News on Monday that Petrova had been “lawfully detained after lying to federal officers about carrying substances into the country”.
“They asked if I had any biological samples in my luggage. I said yes,” Petrova said before describing her confusion over procedures and an interrogation by CBP officers.
“Nobody knew what was happening to me. I didn’t have any contact, not to my lawyer, not to not to anybody. And the next day, they didn’t say what would happen. I was waiting in a cell,” she said.
A recent survey by the journal Nature revealed that 75% of 1 600 scientists surveyed were considering relocating to Europe or Canada, citing actions taken by President Donald Trump.
Separately, a tracking database from Inside Higher Ed shows that, as of 18 April, more than 240 colleges and universities have reported that more than 1 550 international students and recent graduates have had their legal status changed by the US State Department.
About 180 international students have filed 28 federal lawsuits seeking to regain their Student and Exchange Visitor Programme status or US visas.
Harvard recruited Petrova about two years ago. She graduated from the Russian Physics and Technology Institute and was highly recommended, Peshkin said. She also attended the same high school in Moscow that he did, a place he describes as being for “people who are usually selfless, devoted, fanatic scientists, ascetics”.
“These are people who …are in science because they feel it’s their mission to understand how nature works and find cures.”
He added that their lab’s research “requires a unique set of skills because you have to both be able to work as an embryologist and do applied math, modelling, data analysis and bioinformatics – all in one package”.
When asked how many people in his lab could do all of that, he said simply: “Only her.”
Dr William Trim, a postdoctoral fellow who is a co-worker and housemate of Petrova, underscored her irreplaceable role in their research project using the one-of-a-kind microscope.
Petrova had developed the computer scripts to analyse the 100 000 images contained in the microscope.
“Without her, all of the insights into cures or fundamental biology that we could make will not be made.”
Trim and a growing number of international scientists are increasingly worried by how immigration policies are being enforced in the United States. Meanwhile, he and his colleagues anxiously await Petrova’s fate.
“We really don’t know if we’re ever going to see her again,” he said, “because if they deport her to Russia, we may never see her again.”
Nature article – 75% of US scientists who answered Nature poll consider leaving (Open access)
Inside Higher Ed – International Student Visas Revoked (Open access)
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