Health

She Worked in a Harvard Lab to Reverse Aging, Until ICE Jailed Her

Published

12 months ago

April 12, 2025

She Worked in a Harvard Lab to Reverse Aging, Until ICE Jailed Her

A shift in the atmosphere

Ms. Petrova’s return flight from Paris landed in Boston on the evening of Feb. 16. As the plane sat on the tarmac, she texted back and forth with Dr. Peshkin, trying to confirm how she should handle the package in customs. But by then, the passengers were already filing off the plane, he said, and Ms. Petrova cut short the conversation.

At first, Ms. Petrova said, her re-entry felt normal. At passport control, an officer examined the J-1 visa that Harvard had sponsored, identifying her as a biomedical researcher. The officer stamped her passport, admitting her to the country.

Then, as she headed toward the baggage claim, a Border Patrol officer approached her and asked to search her suitcase. All she could think was that the embryo samples inside would be ruined; RNA degrades easily. She explained that she didn’t know the rules. The officer was polite, she recalled, and told her she would be allowed to leave.

Then a different officer came into the room, and the tone of the conversation changed, Ms. Petrova said. This officer asked detailed questions about the samples, Ms. Petrova’s work history and her travel in Europe. The official then informed Ms. Petrova that she was canceling her visa and asked her whether she was afraid to be deported to Russia.

“Yes, I am scared to go back to Russia,” she said, according to a Department of Homeland Security transcript provided by her lawyer. “I am afraid the Russian Federation will kill me for protesting against them.”

Ms. Petrova’s attorney, Greg Romanovsky, said that Customs and Border Protection had overreached its authority by canceling her visa. He acknowledged that she had violated customs regulations but said it was a minor offense, punishable by forfeiture and a fine.

To cancel her visa, Mr. Romanovsky said, the agents needed to identify grounds for excluding her. “There are many, many grounds of inadmissibility, but violating a customs rule is certainly not one of them,” he said.

Lucas Guttentag, a professor at Stanford Law School, reviewed documents in the case and agreed. He said that Ms. Petrova had been legally admitted to the United States, and then “the government itself created the alleged improper immigration status that is now the basis for her detention.”

“Subjecting anyone to this process is wrong, and this case is both shocking and revealing,” said Mr. Guttentag, who served as a senior Justice Department advisor under President Biden and senior advisor to the D.H.S. during the Obama administration.

In February, customs officials detained Ms. Petrova at Logan International Airport in Boston for failing to declare samples of frog embryos.Credit…M. Scott Brauer for The New York Times

A spokesperson for the D.H.S., asked why Ms. Petrova’s visa had been canceled, said that a canine inspection found petri dishes and vials of embryonic stem cells in her luggage without proper permits.

“The individual was lawfully detained after lying to federal officers about carrying biological substances into the country,” the spokesperson said. “Messages on her phone revealed she planned to smuggle the materials through customs without declaring them. She knowingly broke the law and took deliberate steps to evade it.”

When the border patrol agent canceled Ms. Petrova’s visa, she became an undocumented immigrant, among the thousands detained since Mr. Trump took office. She was sent to the Richwood Detention Center to await a hearing in which she will present her case for asylum to an immigration judge.

“If she wins, she will not be deported,” Mr. Romanovsky said. “If she loses, she will be deported to Russia.”

He has also filed a petition for her release in federal court, and pressed ICE to release her on parole. “I am basically pleading for mercy,” he said. “In a different environment, I think she would have been out a long time ago.”

Ms. Petrova has spent the last month in a dormitory lined with rows of bunk beds. It is cold, and at night, the women sometimes shiver under thin blankets. Once a day, they are allowed an hour outside. Breakfast comes at different times, sometimes as early as 3:30 a.m. The hardest thing, she said, is the constant noise. The facility’s psychiatrist gave her earplugs to help her sleep.

Unable to work, she observes the women around her. Around half are Latin Americans in their 30s and 40s who crossed the border for economic reasons, she said. A second group is made up of Asians and citizens of former Soviet states, who crossed the border legally, seeking political asylum.

None of them deserve to be held under these conditions, she said. “I thought this was impossible, to be in this situation,” she said. “Even immigrants here, they have to have some rights. But it seems that nobody really cares about our rights here.”

It has challenged the view of America that she formed in Russia. “This is not the kind of America I used to know,” she said.

An empty bench

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Health

Dementia risk signals could lie in simple blood pressure readings, researchers say

Published

3 hours ago

March 27, 2026

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Dementia risk signals could lie in simple blood pressure readings, researchers say

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Simple measurements taken during routine blood pressure checks could predict dementia risk years before symptoms appear.

That’s according to new research presented this week at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session in Louisiana.

The findings draw on two studies led by researchers at Georgetown University, which suggest that monitoring how blood vessels age and stiffen over time can provide a window into future cognitive health.

LURKING DEMENTIA RISK EXPOSED BY BREAKTHROUGH TEST 25 YEARS BEFORE SYMPTOMS

Data shows rates of dementia and aging-related cognitive decline are expected to increase as populations age, and half of U.S. adults have high blood pressure (hypertension).

Scientists believe that efforts to better address hypertension, a key contributor to heart disease and a risk factor for dementia, could affect both cardiac and brain health.

Data shows rates of dementia and aging-related cognitive decline are expected to increase as populations age. Meanwhile, half of U.S. adults have high blood pressure. (iStock)

“Blood pressure management isn’t just about preventing heart attacks and strokes; it may also be one of the most actionable strategies for preserving cognitive health,” Dr. Newton Nyirenda, the study’s lead author and an epidemiologist at Georgetown University in Washington, said in a press release.

The research focused on two metrics, the pulse pressure-heart rate index and estimated pulse wave velocity. Both were calculated using data collected during standard doctor visits, such as heart rate, age and blood pressure.

“Blood pressure management isn’t just about preventing heart attacks and strokes; it may also be one of the most actionable strategies for preserving cognitive health.”

Researchers examined five years of data patterns for more than 8,500 people in the SPRINT trial, a large study of adults 50 years and older with hypertension. In the follow-up, 323 of the participants developed probable dementia.

HIDDEN BRAIN CONDITION MAY QUADRUPLE DEMENTIA RISK IN OLDER ADULTS, STUDY SUGGESTS

In one study, the team found the pulse pressure-heart rate index was a strong independent predictor of dementia risk in adults over 50. For participants under 65, every one-unit increase was associated with a 76% higher risk of developing dementia.

For participants under 65, an increase in the pulse pressure-heart rate index was associated with a 76% higher risk of developing dementia. (iStock)

The second study found that adults with consistently elevated or rapidly increasing pulse wave velocity were more likely to develop dementia than those with stable velocity, even after accounting for factors like smoking, gender and cardiovascular history.

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“Our findings suggest that vascular aging patterns may provide meaningful insight into future dementia risk,” said Nyirenda. “This reinforces the idea that managing vascular health earlier in life may influence long-term brain health.”

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The team emphasized that clinicians should tailor risk assessments and treatment strategies to the individual.

Further studies are needed to confirm these parameters and determine whether changing vascular aging trajectories reduces dementia risk. (iStock)

“You don’t want to wait until a patient starts manifesting cognitive decline before you act,” said senior study author Sula Mazimba, an associate professor at the University of Virginia.

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Researchers noted the study could not establish causation. Other limitations included the fact that participants already had hypertension and elevated cardiovascular risk, meaning the findings may not apply to people without those conditions.

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Further studies are needed to confirm these findings and to determine whether improving blood vessel health over time could reduce dementia risk.

Khloe Quill is a lifestyle production assistant with Fox News Digital. She and the lifestyle team cover a range of story topics including food and drink, travel, and health.

Health

Everything You Need To Know About Zepbound for Weight Loss, Including Costs

Published

14 hours ago

March 26, 2026

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Everything You Need To Know About Zepbound for Weight Loss, Including Costs

What Is Zepbound? Weight-Loss Benefits, Costs and Dosage

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Health

‘Gas station heroin’ banned in another state amid nationwide crackdowns

Published

15 hours ago

March 26, 2026

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‘Gas station heroin’ banned in another state amid nationwide crackdowns

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A dangerous substance dubbed “gas station heroin” continues to alarm medical professionals, with more states making moves to restrict or ban tianeptine.

Fourteen states have officially classified the tricyclic antidepressant as a Schedule I controlled substance.

Connecticut is the latest state to crack down, officially banning the sale and use of the substance starting on Wednesday.

HEALTH OFFICIALS WARN OF DANGEROUS SUBSTANCE AVAILABLE IN STORES ACROSS THE NATION

Tianeptine, which can produce euphoria in higher doses, can be more potent than morphine and addictive opioids, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Some countries have taken steps to restrict how tianeptine is prescribed or dispensed, and have even revised the labels to warn people of its potential addictive qualities.

Tianeptine can be more potent than morphine and addictive opioids. (iStock)

Misuse of tianeptine can cause severe adverse health effects, including respiratory depression, severe sedation and death, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Some companies market the drug as an aid for pain, anxiety and depression, or as a means of improving mental alertness in a pill, powder, salt or liquid form.

The products are typically sold at convenience stores, gas stations, vape shops and online retailers, and go by names like Tianaa, ZaZa, Neptune’s Fix, Pegasus and TD Red.

Connecticut is the 15th state to classify tianeptine as a Schedule I controlled substance. (Markus Scholz/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Connecticut Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said in a press release that the schedule change is a necessary step to combat addiction.

“With false marketing that led consumers to believe these are safe products, and with candy-like flavor options, these substances posed a clear threat to those battling substance-use disorder and our youngest residents,” she added.

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The Nutmeg State also added Mitragyna speciosa (kratom), 7-hydroxymitragynine, Bromazolam, Flubromazolam, Nitazenes and Phenibut to the schedule classification.

Earlier this month, FDA Commissioner Martin Makary penned a letter sounding the alarm on what he called a “dangerous and growing health trend.”

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“I am very concerned,” Makary wrote. “I want the public to be especially aware of this dangerous product and the serious and continuing risk it poses to America’s youth.”

New York-based Robert Schwaner, M.D., vice chair of system clinical affairs at Stony Brook Emergency Medicine, told Fox News Digital that the FDA has never approved tianeptine as a dietary supplement.

“As with heroin and other opioids, significant mu-opioid receptor stimulation ultimately results in a loss of respiratory drive and subsequent cardiac arrest.” (Dekalb County Sheriff’s Office)

“The euphoria at low doses is primarily due to increased serotonergic activity from its serotonin reuptake effects. With increasing doses, the mu-opioid receptor stimulation may become lethal,” said Schwaner. “As with heroin and other opioids, significant mu-opioid receptor stimulation ultimately results in a loss of respiratory drive and subsequent cardiac arrest.”

Schwaner said he believes the substance requires national regulation due to its addictive qualities.

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“Acting at the same receptor as opioids, tianeptine has the potential for an individual to develop tolerance, subsequent dependence and withdrawal from its use,” he cautioned.

Fox News Digital reached out to the FDA for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner and Melissa Rudy contributed to this report.

Ashley J. DiMella is a lifestyle reporter with Fox News Digital.