Congratulations to Dr. Anita Layton, Canada 150 Research Chair Laureate in Mathematical Biology and Medicine; University Professor; and professor of applied mathematics, computer science, pharmacy and biology, who has been named a Fellow of the American Physiological Society (APS). The society, which was founded in 1887, gives the lifelong Fellow status to “honor distinguished leaders who have demonstrated excellence in science, have made significant contributions to physiological sciences and related disciplines and have served the Society.”
“I am honoured to win this award,” Layton says. “The APS fellowship recognizes members who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and service to the society in conjunction with making noteworthy scientific and professional accomplishments. I am particularly honored because APS Fellows are almost exclusively physiologists (as expected). I am probably the first mathematician to be made a Fellow!”
Together with her research group, Layton’s groundbreaking work focuses on using computational tools to better understand sex differences in biology and medicine. She has received particular attention for her mathematical modeling of the kidneys, and the larger renal system. “Our findings have the potential to reduce gender disparity in treatment, and to define effective and personalized therapies that respect the different physiology and pathophysiology of women,” she says. “That is a prerequisite for pharmacoequity.”
Layton would like to thank her hardworking and talented graduate students and postdocs, “who have been the engine behind our research group’s scientific achievements,” as well as her physiologist collaborators, who “aren’t afraid to work with a mathematician!”