"Firsts" in Healthcare at the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Medicine

The United States recently celebrated its 250^th birthday as an independent nation. But even before Benjamin Franklin signed the Declaration of Independence, Philadelphia was a hub of medical innovation. Here are just a few of the "firsts" from the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Medicine:

• First chartered hospital: The Pennsylvania Hospital was founded in 1751 and became the nation's first chartered hospital. The first hospital also housed the first hospital associated apothecary, the first medical library, the first maternity ward, and the first surgical amphitheater. History | Pennsylvania Hospital 275th Anniversary. Visit the new Pennsylvania Hospital Museum to learn more! 
• First Medical School: In 1765, the first students attended anatomical lectures at the College of Philadelphia, which later became the University of Pennsylvania. Brief History: School of Medicine
• First x-ray (perhaps?): The origin of the modern day x-ray is attributed to German physicist, Wilhelm Röntgen in 1895, however a  professor at Penn may have accidentally made this discovery 6 years earlier. Goodspeed X-ray plates give a snapshot of Penn's place in medical history | Penn Medicine
• First to mass produce penicillin: In 1944, Albert Newton Richards, a pharmacologist at Penn, assisted in developing a method for large scale production of this lifesaving drug. Penn Medicine Firsts | Penn Medicine
• First CAR T cell therapy: Penn Medicine scientists discovered this treatment method which uses the body's immune system to fight cancer. In 2017, the first CAR T cell treatment was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for advanced acute lymphoblastic leukemia. CAR T Cell Therapy | Penn Medicine 
• First mRNA vaccine: Penn scientists were the first to harness the power of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) for disease prevention. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, mRNA technology was applied to vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, allowing for quick production and the ability to make changes to the vaccines as new strains of the virus emerged.  World-changing mRNA vaccines | Penn Medicine