Without scientist Kseniia Petrova’s expertise, no one can fully unlock the data’s potential, putting crucial advancements in early cancer detection at risk
Apr. 21, 2025, 5:34 PM EDT / Updated Apr. 22, 2025, 7:20 AM EDT
A groundbreaking microscope at Harvard Medical School could lead to breakthroughs in cancer detection and research into longevity. But the scientist who developed computer scripts to read its images and unlock its full potential has been in an immigration detention center for two months — putting crucial scientific advancements at risk.
The scientist, the 30-year-old Russian-born Kseniia Petrova, worked at Harvard’s renowned Kirschner Lab until her arrest at a Boston airport in mid-February. She is now being held at ICE’s Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe, Louisiana, and fighting possible deportation to Russia, where she said she fears persecution and jail time over her protests against the war in Ukraine.
“I would call it a grinding machine,” Petrova, who spoke with NBC News from the Louisiana facility, said 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
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