Health
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.
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.
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Comedian Amy Schumer, 44, has recently come clean about her struggle with Cushing’s syndrome, leading to a dramatic weight loss.
Schumer’s transformation has sparked conversation online, to which she responded in a now-deleted Instagram post that shut down speculation about cosmetic enhancements.
“I didn’t lose 30lbs — I lost 50,” she emphasized on social media, adding that she does not get Botox or filler.
AMY SCHUMER DROPPED 50 POUNDS TO BATTLE DISEASE THAT ‘CAN KILL YOU’ IF UNTREATED
Schumer doubled down that her weight loss was not about her appearance, but about staying alive.
“Not to look hot, which does feel fun and temporary,” she said. “I did it to survive. I had a disease that makes your face extremely puffy that can kill you, but the internet caught it and that disease has cleared.”
Amy Schumer attends Variety’s 2024 Power of Women: New York event on May 2, 2024, in New York City on the left. On the right, Schumer later poses for a photo posted to Instagram after her weight loss. (Marleen Moise/WireImage; Amy Schumer/Instagram)
“Sorry for whatever feeling it’s giving you that I lost that weight,” she added. “I’ve had plastic surgery over the years and I use [Mounjaro]. Sorry to anyone they let down. I’m pain free. I can [play] tag with my son.”
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The actress also addressed her shifting hormones, saying that she’s “happy to share more if anyone has any questions about how I’m looking or feeling or where I am in my perimenopause process.”
“I didn’t lose 30lbs — I lost 50,” Schumer emphasized on social media, adding that she does not get Botox or filler. (Amy Schumer/Instagram)
What is Cushing’s syndrome?
Schumer previously revealed that she had been diagnosed with Cushing’s syndrome, a hormonal disorder that can cause extreme swelling, fatigue and potentially fatal complications.
Dr. Peter Balazs, a hormone and weight loss specialist in New Jersey, provided more details on the condition in an interview with Fox News Digital.
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“Cushing’s syndrome is caused by prolonged, high exposure to cortisol, which is your body’s main stress hormone,” he said. “Usually, the excess cortisol is a result of prolonged steroid use. We see this many times with patients who have some autoimmune disorder.”
Balazs said the “key” to Cushing’s syndrome is not just weight gain, but a “specific redistribution” of fat caused by too much cortisol.
Amy Schumer is photographed during a guest interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Feb. 13, 2024 (left), and later seen walking through midtown New York City on Oct. 28, 2025 (right). (Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images; Raymond Hall/GC Images/Getty Images)
Fat may be driven to the abdomen, chest, upper back (referred to as a “buffalo hump”) or face, sometimes considered “moon face,” the doctor said.
Cortisol also breaks down protein, which leads to a thinning in the arms and legs. “Weight gain can be tough, involuntary and hard to manage,” Balazs added.
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Cortisol stimulates “hunger centers” in the brain, raises blood sugar and promotes fat storage, especially deep belly fat, according to the doctor.
Cushing’s syndrome can also cause high blood pressure, bone loss and sometimes type 2 diabetes, per Mayo Clinic.
In addition to weight gain in certain areas, other symptoms may include pink or purple stretch marks on the stomach, hips, thighs, breasts and underarms, as well as acne, slow wound healing, and thin, frail skin that bruises easily.
With Cushing’s syndrome, fat may accumulate in the abdomen, chest, face or upper back (referred to as a “buffalo hump”). (iStock)
Women with Cushing’s syndrome often experience thick, dark hair on the face and body, as well as irregular periods. Symptoms among men can include a lower sex drive, reduced fertility and erectile dysfunction.
Mayo Clinic listed other potential symptoms, including extreme fatigue, muscle weakness, depression, anxiety, irritability, mood swings, trouble with concentration and memory, headache, sleeplessness, skin darkening and stunted growth in children.
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Those with symptoms should contact their doctor immediately, especially if they are taking steroids to treat health issues like asthma, arthritis or inflammatory bowel disease, as these medications can exacerbate the condition.
The Mayo Clinic has reported that the “sooner treatment starts, the better the chances for recovery.”
“I’ve had plastic surgery over the years and I use [Mounjaro],” Schumer stated in a social media post. (George Frey/Bloomberg)
For patients like Schumer, weight loss is typically not the main goal, Balazs noted, but it is a “critical sign” of successful treatment.
“The primary goal is to normalize your high cortisol levels,” he said. “I believe Amy Schumer got treated first for her underlying problem. Once the cortisol is normalized, which is the most important step, there’s a role to use adjunct medications to decrease weight.”
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Among GLP-1s, Mounjaro is an “excellent choice to decrease deep belly fat and increase insulin sensitivity of cells,” Balazs added.
Fox News Digital’s Stephanie Giang-Paunon contributed to this report.
Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer’s rep requesting comment.
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