Michael Burns

Associate Professor, Department of Biology

Michael Burns is an Assistant Professor of Biology whose research focuses on cancer and the microbiome. Additionally, he is exploring the interactions between science and religion, including projects on vaccine hesitancy among religious people. He has been running an extra-curricular Science and Religion discussion group with Dr. Joseph Vukov (Philosophy) since 2017 that brings students together to talk through challenges where the two areas intersect. Additionally, with support from the Hank Center for Catholic Intellecual Heritage, he has developed an interdisciplinary course pairing (with Dr. Vukov) for Catholic Studies, collectively called, Philosophy and Biology for the Future. This concurrent pair of courses expose students to the fine detail of the science behind human genetic enhancement, climate change, and a variety of other scientific topics while at the same time, the students will be integrating the philosophical and religious considerations related to these topics.