Water Institute member Anita Layton, Canada 150 Research Chair in Mathematical Biology and Medicine, Professor of Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Pharmacy, and Biology, has been named the recipient of the 2021 Krieger-Nelson Prize for her exceptional contributions to mathematical research with applications ranging from fluid dynamics to biology and medicine. Dr. Layton will receive her award and present a prize lecture during the CMS Summer Meeting in June 2021.
After earning a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Toronto, Dr. Layton has built an impressive academic career with accomplishments throughout applied mathematics and the sciences. She was a long-time faculty member at Duke University where she held the Robert R. and Katherine B. Penn Professorship of Mathematics. Recently she moved to the University of Waterloo as a Canada 150 Research Chair in Mathematical Biology and Medicine.
In addition to Dr. Layton’s groundbreaking work in mathematical biology, she has also published many impactful and well-cited studies in computational fluid dynamics; in particular, computational methods for fluid-structure interaction problems. Here, a deformable object is immersed in an incompressible fluid so that the object moves with the fluid and also exerts forces on it. These problems are notoriously hard to solve, both analytically and computationally. Dr. Layton has been at the forefront of studying and developing numerical methods which preserve the sharp fluid-boundary interface. For example, with then-colleague Tom Beale, she was the first to present a rigorous analysis of the immersed interface method of Li and LeVeque.
Dr. Layton’s expertise on systems of nonlinear advection-diffusion equations coupled with algebraic equations has, in part, furnished her long-standing program of research on kidney function, and specifically on the kidney’s ability to concentrate salt and other products in the outflow. Here she has addressed important problems in physiology and medicine, and corrected several misconceptions about kidney function that have plagued the textbooks for years. By working with renal physiologists, Layton was able to develop a model of fluid and solute exchange in the kidney that accounts for its concentrating ability. She developed a fast numerical solver that proved to be vital as it allowed for parameter sensitivity studies that are based on many repetitions of otherwise time-consuming and costly simulations.
It
is
worth
noting
that
Dr.
Layton’s
work
has
inspired
new
experimental
and
clinical
studies
in
the
area
of
renal
physiology
and
associated
medical
care.
Her
work
has
also
highlighted
the
importance
of
sex
differences
in
mathematical
models
for
biological
systems.
Overall,
Dr.
Layton
is
an
outstanding
applied
mathematician
whose
impact
is
vast
and
truly
interdisciplinary.
The
CMS
is
proud
to
award
her
the
2021
Krieger-Nelson
Prize.
About
the
Krieger-Nelson
Prize
The
Krieger-Nelson
Prize,
jointly
named
for
Cecilia
Krieger
and
Evelyn
Nelson
was
first
awarded
in
1995.
It
was
inaugurated
to
recognize
outstanding
contributions
in
the
area
of
mathematical
research
by
a
female
mathematician.
For
information
about
past
recipients
visit: https://cms.math.ca/Prizes/info/kn.html
About
the
Canadian
Mathematical
Society
(CMS)
The
CMS
is
the
main
national
organization
whose
goal
is
to
promote
and
advance
the
discovery,
learning
and
application
of
mathematics.
The
Society’s
activities
cover
the
whole
spectrum
of
mathematics
including:
scientific
meetings,
research
publications,
and
the
promotion
of
excellence
in
mathematics
competitions
that
recognize
outstanding
student
achievements.
Original story published by the Canadian Mathematial society