Pittsburgh researcher 'on the verge' of significant coronavirus discovery shot dead inside his home
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA: A Pittsburgh scientist, who was close to making “very significant findings” related to the new coronavirus, has been killed in an alleged murder-suicide.
Dr Bing Liu (37) was a research assistant professor at the Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pennsylvania, US. “It is with deep sadness and shock that we learned of the untimely passing of Dr Liu on Saturday, May 2. Bing was on the verge of making very significant findings toward understanding the cellular mechanisms that underlie SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) infection and the cellular basis of the following complications. We will make an effort to complete what he started to pay homage to his scientific excellence. His loss will be felt throughout the entire scientific community,” said a statement from his department.
Dr Liu was shot on May 2 inside his home in the 200 block of Elm Court in Ross townhouse, according to a report in the Post-Gazette. His wife was not home at the time of the shooting. Autopsy showed that he was shot multiple times, including in the head, neck, and torso.
According to Ross police, Dr Liu was shot by another man, identified by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office as Hao Gu (46). The second man was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted wound in a car, which was parked near the scene of the first death, about 100 yards away on Charlemagne Circle. The police said that the two men knew each other, but did not divulge details on how they were connected.
“Police declined to disclose a possible motive for the homicide, but they said nothing was stolen from the townhouse and there was no forced entry. Ross police Sgt. Brian Kohlhepp said the men knew each other but did not disclose how. He declined to comment on a possible motive, but said no other suspect is at large,” says Post-Gazette.
“Investigative leads developed throughout the weekend have led us to believe that the male from the car shot and killed the man in the townhome before returning to his own car and taking his own life,” said the police, according to People.
Investigations are ongoing and a potential motive is not yet clear. The police, however, said, that there appears to be no indication the researcher’s death had any connection to his work, reports CBD Pittsburgh.
Meanwhile, Dr Liu’s department at the university described him as an outstanding researcher, “who has earned the respect and appreciation of many colleagues in the field, and made unique contributions to science.” He has worked at Pitt since 2014. Dr Liu received a bachelor's and PhD in Computer Science from the National University of Singapore. Before that, he worked with Prof Edmund M. Clarke as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, and with Prof Ivet Bahar as a research associate in the Department of Computational & Systems Biology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh. He was recently promoted to a research assistant professor position.
Dr Liu’s area of expertise was computational modeling and analysis of biological systems dynamics. He had developed high-performance computing techniques and advanced machine-learning approaches for modeling the time evolution of complex cellular interactions, Bayesian network models and methods, and statistical model checking and sensitivity analyses. A prolific researcher, he co-authored in over 30 publications, including four in 2020, in addition to a book.
“He played a critical role in the Bahar Lab. He single-handedly helped all of us as well as many collaborators, including clinicians here and in other institutions, understand and quantitatively model many complex processes. Liu was an excellent mentor. He had been generously sharing his time and knowledge with younger members of the Bahar lab, as well as students enrolled in our various programs, including our summer programs. He was patient, intelligent, and extremely mature. We will miss him very much,” reads the statement.
“He was just starting to obtain interesting results. He was sharing with us, trying to understand the mechanism of infection, so we will hopefully continue what he was doing,” Bahar told Post-Gazette.
The University also issued a statement: “The University of Pittsburgh is deeply saddened by the tragic death of Bing Liu, a prolific researcher and admired colleague at Pitt. The University extends our deepest sympathies to Liu’s family, friends, and colleagues during this difficult time.”