1913-1987

Chinese-American chemist and endocrinologist who was the first to synthesize a human hormone. Li was also the first to show that hormones, in this case, ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone), was comprised of a total of 39 amino acids in a specific order, or sequence. In later years, Li was the first to isolate human growth hormone and, in 1970, to synthesize it. This was one of the first hormones used in the treatment of dwarfism.