Poster Abstracts

AbPoster abstracts (alphabetical by presenter)

Giorgio AMBROSIO (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Senior Scientist)                    

“The Religious Sense, Particle Accelerators, and… the Titanic”

For more than twenty years, I’ve led programs and projects focused on designing and fabricating superconducting magnets for particle accelerators. Over these years, I’ve collaborated with dozens of technicians, engineers, and scientists across U.S. universities, national laboratories, and international institutions such as CERN.

What I’ve discovered along the way is that the most effective “handbook” for managing these complex scientific efforts comes from an unexpected place: The Religious Sense by Fr. Luigi Giussani, the Italian priest who founded the Catholic movement Communion and Liberation.

In this poster, I highlight several insights from the book’s opening premises and show how they have shaped—and often rescued—my approach to scientific collaboration. I’ll also share my own “Titanic moment”: not the DiCaprio version, unfortunately, but the one experienced by the ship’s captain… and what it taught me about leadership, responsibility, and much more.

Joseph ANDERSON (Carthage College, Department of Physics and Astronomy)

“Navigating a Life of Faith and Science: An Outline of a Four-Week Undergraduate Course”

Undergraduates in STEM are generally not supported over the course of their college careers in exploring matters of faith and science. Narratives of conflict in the wider culture often steer these extracurricular investigations toward contemporary debates on origins, where polemicists—sometimes from within the students’ own faith tradition or scientific discipline—talk past one another due to mutual misconceptions, historical and theological on one side, scientific on the other. This poster presents a sequence of themes and resources for a four-week intensive course which would address this need, aimed at an upper-level general-education audience. The major themes, roughly corresponding to the weeks of the course, are as follows. The first theme traces the Christian tradition’s assimilation of developments in reason (doctrines of God, creation, etc.), beginning within the Bible itself, then through the patristic, scholastic, and early modern periods. The second theme examines the theological and philosophical environment of early modern science, how it shaped the work of figures engaged in early work on cosmology and origins, and how those approaches contrast with contemporary positions on the same questions. Third, we consider how miracles fit alongside the methodological naturalism of science, situated within contemporary models of the science-religion interaction. The final theme turns toward the human person, the real agent of science: how faith bears on ethics, technology, and scientific vocation. Throughout, recurring case studies (e.g. Galileo, Lemaitre) are revisited through these successive conceptual lenses. The poster will present the outline of topics and readings, a representative 

Luis Fernando ARAGÓN VARGAS  (University of Costa Rica, Professor, Physical Education) 

“Book Highlights for Quotes and Silence: 92 Scientists Face the God Hypothesis”

The relationship between science and religion has been discussed for several decades, with differing opinions on whether or not there is a conflict, and clear controversy among different authors. A recently published book attempts to present, as objectively as possible, the perspectives of different scientists on the existence and nature of God. Wherever possible, original texts were used by the authors as a way of honoring truth, an essential element in both science and religion. Many interesting quotations are not included in that book because it was not possible to access the original texts or to verify their accuracy; in addition, some quotations were found to have been misquoted by previous authors. The authors quote a wide range of scientists: believers, atheists, and agnostics. Aware of the fact that many scientists have simply not spoken out on issues of faith or religion, the authors present a sample of well-known Christian scientists whose lives speak louder than words about their Christian faith. The quotes in the book are thoroughly documented and made available in their original language. The conclusion of the book is that it is possible for a person to be a good scientist and a committed Christian.

Dennis J. BAUMGARDNER (Univ. Wisconsin School of Medicine, retired)

“Bilocation: the Natural Meets the Supernatural”

Bilocation (appearing to be) wholly (quantitatively) located in two places simultaneously, has been credibly witnessed in many saints and holy people in several centuries. Multiple explanations have been proposed. Pruss (J Anal Theol, 2013) wrote that a temporal being could be bilocated considering internal vs. external time by virtue of time travel. The person(s) in each location may not be identical (e.g., gain or loss of cells due to the two different internal times). In addition, he suggested that bilocation could occur sans time travel by one’s internal time temporarily bifurcating. Pruss also described additional work of God explanations. Catholic philosophers have historically agreed that human bilocation is physically impossible but believed it metaphysically possible to be circumscriptively (quantitatively) in one place and definitively present (being located without occupying space) in another place (by divine intervention). Catholic philosophers were split regarding the metaphysical possibility of being circumscriptively (quantitatively) bilocated. St. Thomas Acquinas and others believed it impossible, a contradiction of the principle of identity, and that all occurrences were apparent bilocations. Suarez and others believed it possible (only a presence would be duplicated, not substance).  Many descriptions suggest that bilocators were present with less than their full material qualities at one of the locations. St. Thomas suggested that angels may cause apparent bilocation. By their nature, angels can rapidly move bodies, assume what appears to be a living person (generally with less than full function of the human body), and perform many operations of the individual whose features they take. Regardless, all observed non-demonic bilocations involved God granting miraculous occurrences to empathetic holy persons in order to do His merciful work for other people.

Katherine V. BULINSKI  (Bellarmine University, Professor of Environmental Studies) and 

Christopher M. GRANEY (Vatican Observatory and Foundation)

“Fossils and Faith: An Experiment in Engaging Parishes and Schools through Paleontology Outreach”

In this project, we plan to bring fossils to Catholic parishes and schools in the Archdiocese of Louisville, Kentucky. Kentucky is known for its diverse and well-preserved fossils, which have been studied since 1739. Kentucky fossils also were appreciated by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, who in the nineteenth century created a fossil display in their museum at their motherhouse in Nazareth, Kentucky—one the earliest such exhibits in the state.

We wish to continue this legacy by creating a portable museum exhibit demonstrating faith and science compatibility using Kentucky fossils. A selection of specimens, along with interpretive text and information highlighting the roles of Catholics in this field of study, will be displayed in a locked and lighted cabinet.

Accompanying this display will be an invitation to submit scientific or theological questions concerning the display. We are interested to know what questions people have when examining fossils, especially in the context of a Catholic school or parish. Fossils are fascinating objects that raise many questions about scientific concepts concerning the history of life on our planet, like evolution, extinction, the origin of life, and where humanity fits into the tree of life. People will be able to submit questions that arise as a result of the display to the Archdiocese's Faith and Science Dialogue Group, using either a paper or digital form. Those wishing to receive an answer may include an email address where they will receive a reply.

The goal of this project is to serve as a form of outreach while also revealing what kinds of faith and science topics might be useful or interesting to students and parishioners for future catechetical formation. If successful, we will both introduce some fascinating science into Catholic spaces, and learn what Catholics are thinking about concerning science.

Wentao CHAI (Enrich Tech LLC, Computer Scientist)

“Catholic AI:  Rethinking AI Design for the Catholic Faithful”

The rapid proliferation of general-purpose artificial intelligence has created a unique challenge for religious practitioners: while large language models (LLMs) possess vast amounts of data, they often lack the "theological posture" necessary to provide doctrinally accurate or pastorally sensitive guidance. This paper introduces Catholic AI, a specialized design framework developed to align frontier AI models with the magisterial, liturgical, and pastoral boundaries of the Roman Catholic Church. Begun a full year before the election of Pope Leo XIV, this work stands in direct continuity with the direction articulated by Antiqua et Nova (2025) and the Holy Father's November 2025 call to Catholic technologists to build AI that helps spread the Gospel.

 The framework establishes four foundational design principles: Magisterial Grounding, ensuring all responses are anchored in authoritative citations; Catholic Linguistic Discipline, which enforces the use of traditional terminology; Polyphony of Saints, allowing the AI to speak through various historical charisms; and Resilience for the Global Church, prioritizing accessibility in low-connectivity mission territories.

At the core of this project are four original technical constructs: Spiritual Cognitive Memory (SCM), a memory architecture indexed to the liturgical calendar; Perpetual Spiritual Accompaniment (PSA), a paradigm for lifelong faith companionship; Generative Catholic Media (GCM); and Digital Communio. These frameworks are embodied in Chatolic, a multilingual reference implementation that features saint-based conversational personas and rigorous Bible explanation tools. The project also proposes the Catholic Doctrine Benchmark (CDB), the first systematic evaluation suite designed to measure doctrinal accuracy and heresy detection in AI. Ultimately, the work advocates for a model of "accompaniment, not oracle," positioning AI as a faithful digital companion that supports, rather than replaces, the irreplaceable role of the priest and the sacraments.

Catholic AI (https://chatolic.ai) available in five languages is currently in App Store review.

Preston DENNETT 

"The Immune Self: Relational Identity and Collective Integration in Adaptive Immunity"

The theoretical foundations of modern immunology remain divided between competing frameworks emphasizing distinct levels of biological organization: the predominant “Innate control of adaptive immunity” paradigm, wherein conserved molecular PAMP/danger inflammatory signals are proposed to both initiate and instruct adaptive immune responses; Bretscher’s Quorum framework, which places initiation and instruction at the level of lymphocyte cooperation in response to linked antigens; and Jerne’s now largely marginalized Network Theory of antigen receptor-specific self-referential autoregulation, elements of which have recently re-emerged in contemporary systems-biology and computational accounts of immunity. Dembic’s Integrity Model represents a notable synthetic move toward reconciling aspects of these perspectives by framing immune function in terms of preservation of organismal unity through distributed cellular decision-making. The unresolved tensions, however, expose a deeper problem concerning the nature of biological identity itself: how are living unities constituted, integrated, and transformed across molecular, cellular, organismal, and evolutionary scales? The immune “self” renders this problem unusually concrete at the empirical level. Like the brain, the adaptive immune system manifests an historically established and continuously refined identity capable of both learning and memory, dysregulation and transformation.

This work proposes an empirical bridge between these frameworks through recognition of trogocytosis-mediated intercellular exchange of surface membrane as a fundamental feature of T cell activation and regulation, together with its modulation by the essential co-inhibitory immune receptor CTLA4. Via trogocytosis, T cells acquire and re-display antigenic and co-stimulatory molecules reflecting their recent history of interactions. This process is hypothesized to facilitate antigen-specific cooperative and competitive/suppressive network interactions among lymphocyte collectives. Integrative distributed reflection of APC-derived antigenic and co-stimulatory information across T cell populations is proposed to provide an efficient substrate for TCR-dependent CTLA4-mediated regulation of lymphoproliferation, offering a potential route toward synthesis of Quorum- and PAMP/danger-based models of adaptive immunity.

Brynn ELSON (University of Michigan, PhD student in Immunology) 

“Scf1 suppresses the innate immune response to systemic Candida auris infection”

Since its identification in 2009, Candida auris has spread across the globe, in part due to its potent ability to colonize skin andabiotic surfaces, which drives its high outbreak potential. Recently, the O’Meara group discovered an adhesin protein, Scf1, which is crucial for C. auris’s colonization of abiotic substrates. Surprisingly, I found that the loss of Scf1 significantly reduced mortality and fungal burden in systemically infected mice, implicating the adhesin as a virulence factor beyond its role in attachment. However, its function during systemic infection is still unknown, as the mortality defect could be due to differences in fungal fitness in vivo, differences in host immune response, or a combination thereof. I will investigate each of these possibilities with an immunocompetent model of systemic infection and a combination of cell culture models, pathology, and RNAseq experiments. Thus far, I have observed a significant reduction in CFU burden, even at 3 d.p.i. I have also found that Δscf1 fungi induce slight differences in macrophage cytokine expression, defense response, and phagocytic uptake. Therefore, I am focusing my investigation on innate immune responses. Upcoming experiments will define the role of neutrophils and cytokine profiles to determine whether Δscf1 fungi exhibit virulence defects due to a differential innate immune response.

Travis GREGAR (3M, Senior Specialist) 

Title and Avstract TBA

Jeffrey W. HERRMANN (The Catholic University of America, St. Abbo of Fleury Endowed Chair in Engineering)  [with Kathryn A. Degnan and Daniel Saba, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. and Fr. Michael Baggot, Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, Rome, Italy]

“Evaluating Design Guidelines for Social Robots: Connecting People and Building Relationships” 

Social robots are intelligent engineered systems that are designed to interact with humans in a variety of complex and dynamic settings, including customer service, tutoring, rehabilitation, and elder care.  Despite their potential, their use also creates risks in areas such as privacy and emotional attachment and dependence.  We are particularly concerned about the impact that social robots will have on human relationships: Will they replace or interfere with existing relationships between people?  Will they prevent people from forming new, beneficial relationships?

Developers, researchers, and others have proposed guidelines for the design of social robots.  These design guidelines give the robot’s designers suggestions for the robot’s form, function, interface, and objectives and guidance for the design process.  In light of our concerns, our multidisciplinary team is reviewing design guidelines that have appeared in the literature on human-robot interaction (HRI) and other domains and considering whether following them would nurture or harm relationships between persons.  

We collected a set of 96 design guidelines from 18 papers and articles about social robots.  We then defined two focal objectives:

1. Design robots so that they nurture existing relationships between people.

2. Design robots so that they help people form new relationships with people. 

Our team evaluated each design guideline by assessing the extent to which following (or satisfying) that design guideline supports or opposes the focal objectives.  For each focal objective, we categorized the design guidelines into four groups: supports, necessary but not sufficient, opposes, and not related.  We also identified intermediate objectives that support or oppose the focal objectives and using those to justify the evaluation.  We expect that our results will identify design guidelines that support the development of social robots that connect people and build relationships.  In addition, this will identify design guidelines that can isolate people and harm interpersonal relationships.

Godwin O. IFERE (Hardin-Simmons University, Professor of Biology)

“RNA–Cholesterol Adducts as a Driver of Tumorigenesis: A Hypothesis”

Cholesterol metabolism is profoundly altered in many cancers, yet the molecular mechanisms linking cholesterol dysregulation to oncogenesis remain incompletely defined. Here, I propose a novel hypothesis: cholesterol and its oxidized derivatives (oxysterols) can form covalent adducts with RNA molecules, generating structural and functional distortions that contribute to tumor development. These RNA–cholesterol adducts may interfere with translation, disrupt non-coding RNA functions, and overwhelm RNA surveillance mechanisms, thereby promoting malignant transformation. This framework offers a new lens for understanding lipid–RNA interactions in cancer biology and highlights opportunities for biomarker discovery and therapeutic intervention.

Rev. Henry KAJUBI, CSC  (Department of Physics Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, PhD Candidate)

“Radiation as Hidden Sacrament: Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy, Environmental Healing, and Priestly and Scientific Practice: A Call to Fulfil the Tria Munera in East Africa” 

Gamma-ray spectroscopy detects radiation invisible to human perception. When environmental radioactivity is measured in soil and water across East Africa encompassing naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) the resulting spectra are not merely technical data but a record of creation’s hidden processes and hidden dangers: the slow decay of radium, thorium, and potassium in the ground beneath our feet and in the water, our communities drink. Radiation is simultaneously a diagnostic tool and a potential killer, a cure when its signatures are read with knowledge and care, a silent destroyer when those signatures go uninterpreted.

This paper argues that radiation physics, read through the lens of the Catholic intellectual tradition as renewed by the Second Vatican Council, opens a profound theology of healing and co-creation rooted in care. Drawing on Lumen Gentium’s theology of the tria munera, Gaudium et Spes’s affirmation of scientific enquiry as ordered to the common good, and Laudato Si’s vision of integral ecology, the paper argues that the vocation of the scientist is intrinsically theological: to befriend the unknown, to read creation’s hidden signatures through instruments, and to make meaning out of what is invisible to others, an act of ongoing revelation. The radiation physicist in East Africa becomes prophet, priest, and shepherd: naming invisible dangers, mediating between creation’s hidden order and vulnerable communities, and advocating for structural protection.

The paper articulates this vocation not as the exclusive property of the priest-physicist but as an invitation to every Christian scientist. It concludes with a vision for a laboratory pathway where high school students begin learning to read environmental radioactivity, advancing through university research toward becoming agents of protection and co-creators of a more just world.

Philip KINDLER (Georgia State University, Neuroscience Institute, PhD candidate) [with Geert de Vries, Aras Petrulis]

“Vasopressin, the vasopressin receptor, and social behavior: an ongoing investigation”

Vasopressin (AVP) has a well-established role in the regulation of peripheral systems, such as blood pressure and antidiuresis. In the central nervous system (CNS), cells express AVP sex-differently, with male vertebrates tending to have more AVP-expressing cells than females. AVP in the CNS also has known behavioral functions. AVP acting on its receptor (V1aR) has been tied to sex-specific behaviors such as aggression, anxiety-like behavior, pair-bonding, and social memory. In the Petrulis – deVries lab, we study the AVP-dependent neural circuitry in the mouse brain. Previous work has focused on the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), which is a region that shows sex-dependent AVP expression. Stimulation of the AVP-expressing cells in this region have produced male-specific effects, namely an increase in male-male investigation and male anxiety-like behavior. The lateral septum (LS) is a region that receives vasopressinergic input from the BNST. When V1aR action was blocked in the LS, the behavioral effects from BNST AVP were absent. My current work is focusing on these V1aR-expressing cells in the LS, as well as the specific behaviors that they may modulate. I am using DREADDs (Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs) to both excite and inhibit V1aR-expressing cells in the LS in the same mouse model. To assess behavioral effects, I have designed a novel assay, the competitive resident intruder test (CRIT) for assessing territorial defense behaviors. I will also be testing the effects of these cells on anxiety-like behavior, social memory, and mating behavior. Testing is ongoing.

David LAUZIER, MD  (UCLA Health, Neurological Surgery and Pathology)

“Pope Leo XIV: Lessons for Physicians from the first American Pope”

In May 2025, billions of people awaited as the Roman Catholic Church selected its 267th Pope. Many knew what the white smoke that billowed out of the chimney of the Sistine Chapel signified, but few expected what followed. On May 8, 2025, Robert Prevost, now Leo XIV, was announced as the next Pope, the first American-born person elected to that position.

A Papal election provides the Church with an opportunity to renew itself, where new perspectives can catalyze meaningful changes. This has been true with Leo XIV, who has drawn inspiration from his predecessor(s) in some areas, and demarcated himself in others. In the first year of his papacy, several key themes have emerged. Many of them relate to critical issues present in the United States and in healthcare. Thoughtful reflection on these can provide opportunities to improve the quality of healthcare delivered. We present the key themes of an emphasis on humanity, reconciliation, doctrinal firmness, and caring for those at the margins as lessons from Leo XIV to translate to the healthcare setting. These most directly address the challenges of AI in medicine, addressing the past missteps of organized medicine, having clear and credible medical guidelines, and prioritizing healthcare delivery to the underserved. Understanding approaches to each of these ongoing challenges in the medical field through a Catholic lens may yield considerable benefits for all those impacted by the healthcare system.

Anna LENNON and Jay T. Lennon (Indiana University, Dept. of Biology)

“Costs Associated with Metabolic Division of Labor”

Microbial cooperation contributes to the diversity and proliferation of life. In variable environments, microbes adopt strategies that enhance cooperation and survivorship. One such cooperative behavior is division of labor (DoL) in which individuals break down complex tasks through functional specialization for the benefit of the collective group. A specific form of DoL is metabolic DoL or reciprocal cross-feeding which involves the production and exchange of metabolites. However, not all cross-feeding interactions are equally stable. Both models of consumer-resource Lotka-Volterra equations and empirical models suggest that nascent cross- feeding consortia are prone to extinction for a variety of reasons. Previous work has suggested the production cost of the exchanged metabolite may act as a driver of stability in cross-feeding systems. To investigate the role of metabolite cost in cross-feeding stability, we developed a series of synthetic cross-feeding consortia to analyze the stability of three separate amino acid auxotrophs. Pairwise cross-feeding consortia were constructed using Bacillus subtilis amino acid auxotrophs which are unable to synthesize phenylalanine (ΔpheA), tyrosine (ΔtyrA), and serine (ΔserA) and were serially transferred over time. After an initial acclimation period, co-cultures containing phenylalanine and tyrosine mutants became increasingly stable over time. In contrast, co-cultures containing serine had much more variable population growth over time with greater likelihood of collapse depending on its co-culture partner. Although serine co-cultures containing phenylalanine tended to have greater growth than serine-tyrosine growth, co-cultures containing serine had significantly less robust growth compared to phenylalanine tyrosine co-cultures. Based on the variation in population growth among amino acids with differing biosynthetic costs, the findings suggest metabolite production cost may contribute to the robust of cross- feeding interactions. In particular, higher metabolite production cost may increase interdependency and thus reduce exploitation DoL systems.

Cameron LOUTTIT  (Charlotte Lozier Institute, Director of Life Sciences)

Title and Abstract TBD

Tim MARIN (Benedictine University, Professor, Dept. of Physical Sciences)

“Integration of faith and reason themes into an undergraduate physics course”

This poster presentation describes the integration of faith and reason themes into an undergraduate Classical Thermodynamics course at Benedictine University. Rooted in the Catholic intellectual tradition and inspired by the Benedictine emphasis on the unity of truth, the course invites students to consider the philosophical and theological implications of foundational scientific concepts such as order, causality, entropy, determinism, and the intelligibility of the natural world. Through curated readings, reflective writing assignments, and guided classroom discussion, students engage both the technical rigor of thermodynamics and broader questions concerning creation, human knowledge, and the compatibility of scientific inquiry with religious belief. The presentation highlights specific pedagogical strategies used to foster interdisciplinary reflection without compromising scientific rigor, demonstrating how chemistry and physics education can contribute meaningfully to the formative goals of Catholic higher education.

Bree McAFEE  (Ave Maria University, undergraduate)                                                                                             

Title and Abstract TBA

Kevin McGOULDRICK  (University of Colorado Boulder, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Research Scientist)

“Nearly 50 years of Venus Ultraviolet albedo analysis enabled by archiving of the 1978 – 1992 Pioneer Venus Orbiter Ultraviolet Spectrometer Data”

We have completed an effort to archive the entire Pioneer Venus Orbiter Ultraviolet Spectrometer data set at the Atmospheres Node of NASA's Planetary Data Archive. This multi-phased effort had begun in the late 20th Century with the recovery of the data from mission-original tape drives to VAX machines at the University of Colorado Boulder. It had continued into the early 2010’s with a recovery of the data from the soon-to-be-obsolete VAX machines and data formats, leading to conversion of the data into modern IEEE data formats and long-term storage at LASP. The process has been completed, with the entire dataset now available at the PDS – with a handful of isolated exceptions. The public release of this dataset makes it now eligible for use in Research and Analysis proposals submitted to NASA and NSF, starting from six months after the archive publication date (which is close in time to – but, alas, after – the abstract submission deadline for this conference). Here, we illustrate several potential science applications of the newly available dataset. Namely, the temporal and spatial analysis of the near UV albedo, especially at wavelengths affected by sulfur dioxide and the unknown UV/Vis absorber.  In addition, the structure of the Venus Hydrogen Corona can be assessed through the analysis of Lyman-𝛼 limb profiles.  Spectral scans also are present in the data set. The ultraviolet albedo of Venus is driven largely through variations in sulfur dioxide and the unknown ultraviolet / short wavelength absorber(s). The variability of these species has long been a target of investigation for the Venus atmosphere. Here, we present a preliminary assessment of the magnitude of the ultraviolet albedo variability at a selection of wavelengths during the Pioneer Venus era (1978 to 1992), and compare that observed variability with more recent observations by Venus Express and Akatsuki.

Rachel PATTON  (University of Pittsburgh, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, postdoctoral fellow) 

“Public Release of the YREC Stellar Evolution Code”

For the past two decades, open-source stellar evolution codes have blown open the field of stellar modelling by broadening the user base and allowing for the comparison of numerical methods and physical assumptions between codes. We present the public release of a once proprietary code, the Yale Rotating Evolution Code (YREC). YREC has been used for 60 years for fast and accurate modelling of low mass stars, but we present broader use cases, including brown dwarfs and high mass stars. Models can be evolved from the pre-Main Sequence through core helium burning including rotation, diffusion, and gravitational settling. Our evolutionary models agree well with other public codes, including MESA and PARSEC. 

Brian M. ROSS  (NOSM University, Professor of Pharmology)

“Sacrament, Ritual Structure, and Healing: Santo Daime’s Practice and Implications for Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy” 

Background: The expansion of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) has renewed attention to religious traditions that integrate psychoactive sacraments within structured spiritual practice. Santo Daime is a Christian ayahuasca religion with strong Catholic liturgical, Marian, and sacramental elements, present in Brazil and North America. It combines hymnody, hierarchical leadership, moral formation, and disciplined communal ritual.

Aims: To examine how Santo Daime leaders conceptualize healing, risk, and the relationship between spirituality and medicine, and to consider implications for contemporary psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.

Methods: Using reflexive thematic analysis, seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with Santo Daime leaders in Brazil and Canada. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed iteratively following Braun and Clarke’s six-phase framework. Reflexive memoing documented interpretive positioning. Participant-observer engagement provided contextual depth.

Results: Healing was framed not as symptom reduction but as moral-spiritual realignment within a Catholic sacramental cosmology. Participants emphasized that the sacrament alone does not produce healing; transformation occurs within a structured ritual ecology characterized by embodied prayer, apprenticeship, screening, and communal regulation. Leaders expressed concern regarding secular commodification of psychedelics and highlighted the ethical importance of lineage, discipline, and formation.

Conclusions: Santo Daime offers a model of psychedelic use in which sacramentality, moral formation, and communal containment function as active components of healing. These findings raise important questions for Catholic engagement with emerging psychedelic therapies and suggest that ritual and moral ecology may be underexamined therapeutic variables.

Thomas P. SHEAHEN  (ITEST, Institute for Theological Encounter with Science and Technology).

“Using Higher Dimensions to Express Higher Human Characteristics”

Transcending the limitations of the dimensions of space and time, God is free to create in many more dimensions, and has certainly done so.  God created “all things visible and invisible.” In particular, humans exist on a level of reality far beyond mere atoms and molecules, It is a useful paradigm to categorize more advanced human properties within a framework of higher dimensions.  This notion is compatible with Christian thinking, but anathema to scientism.  As upward steps advance into higher levels of thought, language, civilization and culture, entirely new properties are added.  Conversely, when analyzed into component parts, at each downward step, something is lost. In this presentation, examples are given to illustrate how this approach can elevate our understanding above limits of conventional language. This lifts the veil a little more on God’s program of creating via evolution.

Yiyuan Shen  (University of Iowa, Dept. of Computer Science, dosctoral student)

“Reinforcement Learning-based Knowledge Distillation with LLM-as-a-Judge”

Reinforcement Learning (RL) has been shown to substantially improve the reasoning capability of small and large language models (LLMs), but existing approaches typically rely on verifiable rewards, hence ground truth labels. We propose an RL framework that uses rewards from an LLM that acts as a judge evaluating model outputs over large amounts of unlabeled data, enabling label-free knowledge distillation and replacing the need of ground truth supervision. Notably, the judge operates with a single-token output, making reward computation efficient. When combined with verifiable rewards, our approach yields substantial performance gains across math reasoning benchmarks. These results suggest that LLM-based evaluators can produce effective training signals for RL fine-tuning.

Zofia SIELAFF  (Ave Maria University, undergraduate)  

Title and Abstract TBD

Ana Maria SLIVAR  (University of Alabama, PhD student in physics)   [with Tristan Williams, Ashik Imran,Tristan Williams, Arden Yu Tiamco, Karen Huang, William XiangXi Zeng, Dylan Sullivan, Jake Nguyen, Joshua Dai, Sophia Sun, Brandon Louie, Ethan Rey Reza, and Adam J. Hauser]

“Phase stability investigation of X2TiSn Heusler alloys by density functional theory modeling”

Understanding and predicting the phase of a material is essential for accurate materials design, yet this aspect is often overlooked for specific compositions. Density Functional Theory (DFT) provides a framework for modeling and predicting the structural and electronic properties of a given system, but comparing the energy of formation across alternate structural or atomic arrangements must be considered. Using DFT, we conducted an investigation on the X₂TiSn Heusler alloy series, considering the cubic full Heusler, cubic inverse Heusler, and hexagonal D019 structural phases. For each alloy, the total energy, formation energy, equilibrium lattice constant, magnetic moments, spin polarization, and projected density of states were analyzed. The results offer insight on the structural stability, magnetic behavior, and electronic characteristics of the X₂TiSn systems, providing a solid theoretical foundation for future experimental validation and materials design within this class of Heusler compounds

Zachary SLUZALA  and Cameron LOUTTIT(Charlotte Lozier Institute, Director of Lozier Library and Research Scholar) [with Robin Pierucci]

“The Evolution of Fetal Surgery and the Emergence of Fetal Patienthood”

The field of fetal surgery has evolved significantly over time, drawing from other, more established fields such as obstetrics & gynecology and pediatrics. These fields and others have contributed techniques, technologies, and knowledge which formed the burgeoning field of fetal surgery. Over time, the list of disorders treatable in utero has expanded, organizations focused on fetal surgery have formed, and a growing number of clinical trials have helped to establish the field. Recently, the Cellular Therapy for In Utero Repair of Myelomeningocele (CuRe) Trial – which utilizes stem cells to aid in spina bifida repair – has published preliminary findings, highlighting how intrauterine surgical techniques have changed. With the growth of fetal surgery, the fetus has been increasingly framed as a patient in his or her own right, and it is increasingly common to see in utero interventions framed as involving two patients instead of just one. The evolution of this framework has not been without controversy, but its growing acceptance has changed how the unborn child is viewed.

Edward F. VONESH Jr, PhD (Vonesh Statistical Consulting, LLC)

“The Eternal Being – A Probabilistic Proof of God’s Existence”

This poster is based on my recently published book “The Eternal Being” by Covenant Books. It  presents a mathematical proof based on empirical evidence consisting of a cup of coffee combined with the laws of logic and Bayesian probability theory that an eternal being must necessarily exist with a probability of 1 (i.e., 100%). Having proven the existence of an eternal being, the book examines two key questions: 1) what are the ramifications of such a “being” and 2) how does such an eternal being relate to our “known universe”?  The answer to question 1) is that it must have the power of being in and of itself while the answer to question 2) is that it must also have the power to create any and all non-eternal beings either directly or indirectly via other non-eternal beings. Having made this case, the book then examines other philosophical proofs of God’s existence (e.g., St. Thomas Aquinas, Leibniz, John Locke) as well as philosophical arguments against such proofs (most notably that of Immanuel Kant and Bertrand Russell) as well as scientific arguments from renowned scientists Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow. The book also considers the ramifications of the strictly agnostic view toward proving God’s existence using Pascal’s Wager Table. The final chapter ends with a simple question for the reader, Does God exist or not? To help them decide I suggest they take a seat at PascaI’s Wager Table and place their bet on the square of their choice. However, I suggest they consider the 100% probabilistic proof of the existence of an eternal being. The book ends with “The choice is yours to freely make. Choose wisely!”  

Reinhard VEHRING  (University of Alberta, Professor of Mechanical Engineering/ Vehring Consulting)

“Can Humanoid AI Be a Person?”

Major advances in AI and robotics have enabled humanoid AI to pass the Turing test and become deceptively similar to humans in physical appearance. Users of humanoid AI tend to become emotionally attached. Moreover, it has been proposed to assign personhood with attendant rights and responsibilities to AI. The emergence of humanoid AI raises questions about the human mind. This paper will discuss how Catholic anthropology answers the question of AI personhood and briefly review some aspects of Catholic thought on the theory of mind.

First, the nature of AI hardware and software will be described to stress that even complex neural networks are fully deterministic and essentially material. Any meaning that is assigned to the vast number of transistor states at the core of large language models is encoded using human conventions that translate binary states into tokens, i.e. elements of language, graphics, or sound that are used for human intellectual interaction.

Second, several examples of advanced humanoid AI will be presented, namely companionship apps, general purpose autonomous robots, and social interaction robots. Such AI convincingly simulates human interactions and emotions, e.g. via facial micro-expressions and advanced conversational voice user interfaces.

Third, the Church’s response in the 2025 doctrinal note Antiqua et Nova will be analyzed to contrast Catholic Anthropology with a reductionist approach. The discussion will be augmented by Boethius’ definition of the person as an individual substance of a rational nature and by philosophical arguments for the immateriality of the mind to demonstrate that AI in principle cannot have a mind. Lacking an immaterial dimension, it is not capable of intellect and free will. Hence, according to Catholic thought, humanoid AI cannot be a person. Consequently, we should not interact with it as if it were one.