Tyler J. VanderWeele said he plans to approach his role within the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences focused on the intersection of empirical data and human flourishing.

VanderWeele, professor of epidemiology at Harvard and director of its Human Flourishing Program, told EWTN News Nightly he plans to use his experience promoting “the integration of knowledge across disciplines, [especially] philosophy and theology, [with] the empirical social sciences” in his new position.

The renowned academic, who is Catholic, will join the academy’s 35 existing members, who are academics and professionals in the fields of law, political science, economics, and sociology. VanderWeele holds degrees in mathematics, philosophy, theology, finance, and biostatistics from Harvard, the University of Oxford, and the University of Pennsylvania.

The Catholic University of America awarded VanderWeele an honorary doctorate in 2020.

“I was really delighted to hear about the appointment,” VanderWeele said. “I had followed the work of the academy for some years and have been really impressed by all that has taken place.” The academic further described the opportunity to contribute as a “privilege.”

Apart from his work with the Human Flourishing Program, which carries out annual global study on “the distribution and determinants of flourishing” of over 200,000 individuals across 22 countries, VanderWeele co-directs the Initiative on Health, Spirituality, and Religion at Harvard University. He is also contributor to the Institute for Family Studies, which promotes traditional marriage and family structures.

VanderWeele has also defended Catholic teaching on family and marriage, and written about preventing and healing child sexual abuse in religious communities.

In his new role, VanderWeele said he will work with the academy to advise the Church on its social teaching and the relevance of social teaching on contemporary affairs. He described the academy’s work as “a wonderful contribution of the Church to thinking through the social challenges of the day,” including subjects such as democracy, the environment, disability, and human relationships.

“I think what I bring to the academy is that more quantitative and epidemiologic lens on these questions of flourishing,” he said.

Reflecting on the link between faith and flourishing, VanderWeele said: “I certainly do very much believe that from a Catholic understanding, we really find a restoration to full flourishing, a restoration to our full humanity in Jesus Christ, in the Incarnation.”

“Jesus’ life gives us clues as to what we should be pursuing when we’re seeking to flourish,” he continued. “I think there’s also deep connections between the notion of flourishing and Catholic social teaching.”

Established by Pope John Paul II in 1994, the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences brings together academicians from a wide range of religious and nonreligious backgrounds. Current ordinary members include Catholic theologian Tracey Rowland and economist Jeffrey Sachs.

The academy is led by Dominican Sister Helen Alford, president, and Cardinal Peter Turkson, chancellor.