Wylie Vale

Wylie Walker Vale Jr. (July 3, 1941 – January 3, 2012) was an American endocrinologist who helped identify hormones controlling basic bodily functions.

Early life and education Vale was born in Houston, Texas, on July 3, 1941. He completed a B.A. degree in biology at Rice University and obtained a Ph.D. in physiology and biochemistry from Baylor College of Medicine. He commenced employment at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego, California, in 1970. work that led to the Nobel Prize for Guillemin. His group discovered, isolated and identified corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRF/CRH) in 1981 and growth hormone releasing factor (GHRF) in 1982.

Vale was head of both the Clayton Foundation Laboratories for Peptide Biology and the Helen McLoraine Chair in Molecular Neurobiology at the Salk Institute.