The Wistar Institute is a biomedical center, with a focus on cancer research and vaccine development. It is located in the University City section of Philadelphia, Pa. Founded in 1892 as the first independent, nonprofit, biomedical research institute in the country, Wistar has held the Cancer Center designation from the National Cancer Institute since 1972. Wistar has more than thirty laboratories, which are home to three research programs: a gene expression and regulation program, a molecular and cellular oncogenesis program, and an immunology program. The Institute's research program on cancer includes the following goals and areas: Wistar's training and outreach initiatives include: The Wistar Institute was founded in 1892 as the nation’s first independent medical research facility. It is named for Caspar Wistar, M.D., a prominent Philadelphia physician who began his medical practice in 1787. Dr. Wistar was the author of the first American anatomy textbook. To augment his medical lectures and illustrate comparative anatomy, Dr. Wistar began a collection of dried, wax-injected, and preserved human specimens.