Among other important contributions to endocrinology and neurochemistry, Choh Hao Li identified and isolated seven of the eight peptide hormones secreted by the pituitary gland.

Li was born in Canton, China, to an affluent family, and graduated in science at the University of Nanking in 1933. After teaching chemistry for two years at that institution, he applied for a Ph.D. program of the department of organic chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley. In 1950, he became professor of biochemistry at University of California at Berkeley. At Berkley in 1940, Li isolated and identified the luteinizing hormone, ACTH (adrenocorticotrophic hormone) that activates adrenocortical cells to produce steroid hormones. He was also able to partially synthesize it after establishing the ACTH molecular structure, in 1956. Li also identified the human growth hormone (HGH), also known as somatotropin in 1956, and fourteen years later, he succeeded in synthesizing this molecule.

Li found that...