The Institutum Divi Thomæ (later called the St. Thomas Institute for Advanced Studies) was a graduate research school of science based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The institute operated from 1935 to 1951 as part of the Athenaeum of Ohio, the higher education arm of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and closed in 1988. It was closely associated with its only director, George Sperti. In its heyday, the institute's faculty and students published hundreds of scientific and technical papers and developed commercial products, attracting the attention of religious and secular press. The institute was a response to concerns that fewer Catholics entered science compared to Protestants. In an attempt to reconcile religion and science while avoiding secularism, Sperti and Rev. James A. O'Brien, a lecturer at the institute, promoted the teleological argument as a foundational principle. The institute focused on cancer research in an era before the war on cancer brought government funding to major research universities. The institute admitted no more than 30 students at a time, through competitive examinations. The majority of the students were nuns from various orders, but lay students were also admitted. History In 1935, Archbishop John T. McNicholas established the Institutum Divi Thomae (Latin for "Institute of St. Thomas") to complement the Athenaeum's seminaries and teaching college. He named as its director the inventor George Sperti, who had previously led the University of Cincinnati's Basic Science Research Laboratory and would soon be named to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. The institute's first dean was Very Rev. Cletus A. Miller. It was housed in St. Gregory Seminary until 1941, when it moved to a mansion in East Walnut Hills. A cell derivative believed to stimulate healthy cell growth was discovered at the school by Stanley L. Baker, Ph.D., and was originally tested on burn victims. The accidental application of it resulted in a huge market as Preparation H. The primary active ingredient in his invention was a compound containing a live yeast cell derivative (LYCD), which Sperti named Bio-Dyne. The Food and Drug Administration later discovered clinical testing irregularities in the use of LYCD, and it was removed from the formulation sold in the United States. There are stories that the original Preparation H was used to treat burns. The Canadian and European versions of Preparation H still contain the ingredient. By 1947, the institute had 14 affiliates across the United States as well