Rev. Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco, O.P., currently serves as Professor of Biology and of Theology at Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island. He is also a research fellow at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines, and founding director of ThomisticEvolution.org. His NIH-funded laboratory at Providence College uses yeast as a model organism to interrogate human disease. Fr. Austriaco is a bioethics consultant for the Catholic bishops’ conferences of the United States and of the Philippines.
Fr. Austriaco completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Bioengineering, summa cum laude, at the University of Pennsylvania, and then earned his Ph.D. in Biology from M.I.T. He completed his Pontifical License in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, and a Pontifical Doctorate in Sacred Theology (S.T.D.) at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. He earned his M.B.A. from Providence College in 2020.
Fr. Austriaco has published over fifty peer-reviewed papers in biology, philosophy, and theology, and two books, including Biomedicine and Beatitude: An Introduction to Catholic Bioethics, which was recognized as a 2012 Choice outstanding academic title by the Association of College and Research Libraries. A second edition of the bestselling book is expected in 2021.
