A Harvard scientist whose work on imaging is crucial to a new generation of cancer early detection techniques has been locked up under Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest for around two months, NBC News reported on Monday evening.
"The scientist, the 30-year-old Russian-born Kseniia Pertova, worked at Harvard’s renowned Kirschner Lab until her arrest at a Boston airport in mid-February," reported Jean Lee. "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."
Pertova developed computer scripts essential to decoding the imaging of a revolutionary microscope that could help advance the early detection of cancer, and is currently the only one capable of reading the results.
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"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," the report continued. "In fields where expertise is often highly specialized, 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 the country, legal experts said, because they’re worried that their visas could be revoked or that they could be swept up in immigration actions."
In Pertova's case, the arrest and potential deportation stems from the failure to properly declare frog embryos vital to her research at customs — which she had only carried through inspections at Logan International Airport in Boston because her lab manager had requested them. According to her attorney, Customs and Border Protection would usually handle a first-time offense of this nature by confiscating the items and issuing a $50 fine — but in this case, they revoked her J-1 scholar visa, possibly because the Trump administration wanted a show of force in their crackdown on immigration.
"A DHS spokesperson told NBC News on Monday that Petrova had been 'lawfully detained after lying to federal officers about carrying substances into the country,'" noted the report; however, Petrova said that, “They asked if I have any biological samples in my luggage. I said yes.”
Dr. Leon Peshkin, who oversees Petrova's work, said this sort of incident will not just set back the science already in progress, but set back Harvard's ability to find international researchers willing to work there: “I’m not concerned that it may. I am horrified that it does.”
