Vancouver police have confirmed the woman found dead in a Vancouver suite on Tuesday night was 37-year-old SFU professor Melanie Alexis O'Neill.

Her body was discovered in her triplex in the 100 block of West 13th Avenue, near Main Street, after a friend called police to report her missing.

Police said they are treating the death as a homicide, but are still awaiting an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

O'Neill was an associate professor of biological chemistry at Simon Fraser University. Officials described O'Neill as a pioneer in her field of chemistry.

She began teaching at SFU six years ago and was recently given tenure.

"Well obviously this was a terrible shock to people in the university who knew her and ... particularly to her colleagues and her students in the department of chemistry," said Jon Driver, SFU's acting president.

Grief counsellors have been made available for faculty and students.

Police said a man who knew the owner of the home was taken into custody in Richmond, B.C., but have stressed it's unclear what role, if any, the man played in the woman's death. He has been released from custody and charges have not been laid, said police.

O’Neill was not previously known to police, they said.