Faculty of Science 2017 Year in Review Virophysics Modelling Scholar BELOW: Laura Liao, Biomedical Physics PhD graduate, at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. PHOTO: DEBORAH LARK Ryerson University 28 2017 was a busy year for Dr. Laura Liao, who completed her doctorate in Biomedical Physics under the supervision of Dr. Catherine Beauchemin and secured a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Alan Perelson, a Senior Fellow in the Theoretical Biology and Biophysics Group of the prestigious Los Alamos National Laboratory. Perelson has trained postdocs over the last 40 years and is a pioneer in the study of theoretical immunology most famous for his work with HIV. While at Ryerson, Liao worked on mathematical models of influenza A virus infections in vitro to study both defective interfering particles (DIPS) and virus release. Liao's work revises the methodology for counting DIPs, which had been in use unchanged since 1959. "This innovation has significant potential," explains Liao. "It could lead to improved vaccine production and have positive applications as an antiviral measure to suppress infection, because the presence of DIPs can change the course of an infection."