A CORONAVIRUS researcher who was "on the verge" of making a breakthrough in the pandemic fight was killed in a suspected murder-suicide.

Dr. Bing Liu, 37, was found dead in his Pennsylvania home on Saturday from an apparent gunshot wound to the head, cops say.

The body of a second man, Hao Gu, was found in a nearby car in Ross Township, according to People.

Cops believe Gu died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

"The males are known to each other," police told People.

"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."

His wife was not home at the time of the murder, according to the Post-Gazette.

Dr. Liu was a research assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Medicine with an expertise in "computational modeling and analysis of biological systems dynamics."

The school said he was an "outstanding" and "prolific" researcher who stood out during the COVID-19 crisis.

“He was just starting to obtain interesting results," Ivet Bahar, the head of the computational and system biology department, told the Post-Gazette.
"He was sharing with us, trying to understand the mechanism of infection, so we will hopefully continue what he was doing.”

The university said: "Bing was on the verge of making very significant findings toward understanding the cellular mechanisms that underlie SARS-CoV-2 infection and the cellular basis of the following complications."

"We will make an effort to complete what he started in an effort to pay homage to his scientific excellence."

The school noted that he co-authored at least 30 publications, including four in 2020, and a book.

"He was patient, intelligent, and extremely mature," the university wrote.

"We will miss him very much."

He "was an excellent mentor," the school said, and "generously" shared his time and knowledge with younger scientists.

Officials said "his loss will be felt throughout the entire scientific community."

"Please keep his family, friends, and colleagues in your thoughts."

Dr. Liu received his Bachelor of Science and PhD in Computer Science at the National University of Singapore.

He did his postdoctoral studies at  Carnegie Mellon University.

He had recently promoted to a Research Assistant Professor position at the University of Pittsburgh.

Cops did not say how Dr. Liu and Gu knew each other, and have not speculated on possible motives.

About 1.2 million people in the US have been infected with the coronavirus.

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