AEF presentation: "How does God create through evolution"

Rev. Nicanor Austriaco, OP, will present "How Does God Create through Evolution" on Wednesday, March 9 at 7:00 p.m. in Newman Hall as part of the Aquinas Educational Foundation's spring speaker series. The event is open to the public, free of charge. 

Priest, professor, and lead research Investigator, Rev. Nicanor is the author of "Biomedicine and Beatitude: An Introduction to Catholic Bioethics" (Catholic University of America Press, 2011), a book that addresses contemporary moral questions raised by biology and medicine from a Catholic perspective

Rev. Nicanor's perspective and presentation are informed by his undergraduate studies in bioengineering and an earned Ph.D. in Biology along with a Pontifical License in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) in Moral Theology and a Pontifical Doctorate in Sacred Theology (S.T.D.).

More About Rev. Nicanor Austriaco, O.P., Ph.D., S.Th.D.

Rev. Nicanor Austriaco, O.P., completed his Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering, summa cum laude, at the University of Pennsylvania, and then earned his Ph.D. in Biology from M.I.T. where he was a fellow of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). He was ordained a priest in the Order of Preachers in May of 2004. He earned his Pontifical License in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) in Moral Theology, summa cum laude, at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, in 2005, and a Pontifical Doctorate in Sacred Theology (S.T.D.) at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, in 2015. He completed his M.B.A. at Providence College in 2020.

Fr. Austriaco currently serves as Professor of Biology and Professor of Theology at Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island; Director of ThomisticEvolution.org; and Founder/Chief Operating Officer of Semper Veritas, LLC. He is also a Professor of Biological Sciences and a Professor of Sacred Theology at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines. His NIH-funded laboratory at Providence College is investigating the genetics of programmed cell death using the yeasts, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans, as model organisms. During the pandemic, he pivoted his ongoing research efforts to developing a yeast delivery platform for a COVID-19 vaccine for the Philippines. 

Fr. Austriaco’s first book, Biomedicine, and Beatitude: An Introduction to Catholic Bioethics, was published by the Catholic University of America Press in 2011. It was recognized as a 2012 Choice outstanding academic title by the Association of College and Research Libraries. A second edition of the book was just published. Fr. Austriaco recently received a 2021 Outstanding Scientific Paper Award from the National Academy of Science and Technology of the Philippines for a research paper describing a mobility-guided model for the COVID-19 pandemic in Metro Manila. The scientific paper was published in the Philippine Journal of Science. 

During the 2020-2021 academic year, Fr. Austriaco was Visiting Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Santo Tomas (UST). He is also a fellow of OCTA Research, an independent team of data analysts that provides providing expert data analysis, forecasts, and recommendations for pandemic management for the national and local government officials in the Philippines. Most recently, Fr. Austriaco is the lead investigator for the UST-CoVAX Vaccine Awareness team at UST that is working to promote the use of the COVID-19 vaccines to end the pandemic in the Philippines.