UC San Diego neuroscientist, 2 other people missing after fire in Montreal historical building

A researcher at UC San Diego known as “a uniquely talented neuroscientist and a future leader of the field” remains missing after a fire last week destroyed a Montreal building where she had been staying during a conference.

An Wu is among three people still missing after an early morning fire on March 16 destroyed the building in a historical neighborhood known as Old Montreal, where friends said she had rented an Airbnb.

Montreal emergency workers have recovered four bodies, officials said Thursday. They are still trying to determine what sparked the blaze that extensively damaged the building, which was built in 1890.

At a press briefing Thursday, Montreal officials said seven people were reported to have been in the building at the time of the fire.

According to a webpage for the Komiyama Lab at the university, where she worked as a researcher, Wu is from Anhui in south China and studied biology at Wuhan University. She then attended the University of Miami, where she studied neuroscience. She’s been at UC San Diego for six years.

UC San Diego Professor Takaki Komiyama posted a statement Wednesday on Twitter praising his friend and colleague, whom he called a “central member of our laboratory.”

“She is creative, fearless, and forward-thinking, with a constant desire to learn,” he wrote. “The level of growth that she has demonstrated in the past six years with us, both as a scientist and as a human being, is remarkable.

“She is a tremendous scientist who makes extremely difficult projects look easy,” he continued. “She is a uniquely talented neuroscientist and a future leader of the field in the making.”

Komiyama also called Wu “a beloved and loyal friend” who fills others with her “inexhaustible energy and optimism.”

“She has so much more life to live... Our hearts are broken with the possibility of our worst fear becoming reality,” he added.

A biography on the laboratory’s website said Wu liked literature, film and watching sports, as well as research. “When she has a hard time seeking the meaning of life, she travels,” it read. The photo on the bio shows Wu sitting on the ground on the edge of a hill.

A GoFundMe campaign was launched to raise money to assist her parents in traveling from China to Montreal and San Diego. As of Thursday afternoon, it had raised more than $51,000.

“Dr. An Wu originally came from China, and her parents who still live there are desperately searching for her. She is their only child,” the GoFundMe read. Funds raised will be used for travel and living expenses while her parents travel to deal with matters related to their missing daughter, according to the campaign appeal.