BUFFALO, NY – Canisius University will welcome renowned molecular biologist, author and Catholic priest Rev. Nicanor Robles Austriaco Jr., OP, to campus on Thursday, February 9 at 7:30 p.m., in the Grupp Fireside Lounge of the Richard E. Winter ’42 Student Center. Father Austriaco’s lecture, “Defending a Historical Adam after Darwin,” is made possible by the Joseph J. Naples Conversations in Christ and Culture Lecture and Performance Series. It is free and open to the public.
Father Austriaco is a professor of biological sciences and sacred theology at the University of Santo Thomas (UST) in the Philippines. His laboratory at UST is currently developing a yeast delivery platform for a Covid-19 vaccine and an African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) vaccine for the Philippines. In addition to his scholarly work at UST, Father Austriaco is director of ThomisticEvolution.org, an organization comprised of Dominican friars and scholars committed to a Catholic approach to understanding evolution in the light of faith.
Father Austriaco holds a BS in bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a PhD in biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a fellow of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Ordained a priest in the Order of Preachers in 2004, Father Austriaco earned a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) in moral theology from the Dominican House of Studies in Washington D.C. and a doctorate in sacred theology (STD) from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. He completed his MBA at Providence College in 2020.
Father Austriaco is the author of two books: Biomedicine and Beatitude: An Introduction to Catholic Bioethics and Thomistic Evolution. His research in the areas of molecular and cellular genetics, moral theology and bioethics has been published in a variety of scientific journals.
The Joseph J. Naples Conversations in Christ and Culture Lecture and Performance Series fosters conversations about important issues involving the relationship between Christianity and culture. It promotes cooperation and understanding across religious, gender and ethnic lines. The lecture series is sponsored by the Canisius University Institute for the Global Study of Religion (IGSOR) and the generosity of the ecumenical community of Western New York.
For more information on the Conversations in Christ and Culture Lecture and Performance Series or the upcoming lecture featuring Father Austriaco, contact Philip Reed, PhD, professor of philosophy, at 716-888-2609 or at @email.
One of 27 Jesuit universities in the nation, Canisius is the premier private university in Western New York. Canisius prepares leaders – intelligent, caring, faithful individuals – able to pursue and promote excellence in their professions, their communities and their service to humanity.
