Feng Depei

Feng Depei or Te-Pei Feng (1907–1995) was a Chinese neuroscientist and physiologist.

He is considered one of founders of modern Chinese neuroscience and physiology.

Feng was born on February 20, 1907, in Linhai County, Taizhou, Zhejiang, China.

In 1922, Feng entered Fudan University in Shanghai, initially studied literature.

At Fudan, Feng was attracted by newly emerged psychology, so he transferred to the psychological department in 1923.

In 1925, a new professor of physiology named Cai Qiao joined Fudan, and the department of biology was founded.

Feng became interested in biosciences, especially physiology.

In 1926, Feng graduated from the biological department of Fudan (BSc), and became a lecturer at the same department.

In 1927, because of the student movement at Fudan, the department of biology was dissociated, so Feng had to leave Fudan.

Feng went to Beiping (now Beijing), worked and worked under Robert Lim (Lin Kesheng) at Peking Union Medical College.

Feng did research on thyroid secretion, with Zhang Xijun (张锡钧, who later elected Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences).

With Lim, Feng studied human gastric secretion.

In 1929, Feng won the Boxer Rebellion Indemnity Scholarship Program at Tsinghua University.

Feng went to United States to continue his study.

Feng studied at the University of Chicago, under Ralph W. Gerard.

Feng did research on nerve metabolism, and graduated in 1930 from UChicago with MSc.

In 1930, Feng went to England, where he studied and did research in Cambridge and London.

Feng obtained his PhD from the University College London, University of London in 1933, and his academic advisor was Archibald Hill (1922 Nobel Laureate in Medicine/Physiology).

Feng subsequently worked at University of Cambridge and University of Oxford.

In 1933, recommended by Hill, Feng went to the United States again, and spent 1 year at the University of Pennsylvania, supported by the Eldridge Reeves Johnson Foundation for Medical Physics of UPenn.

In 1934, Feng returned to Beiping, and worked again at Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) as a professor.

In 1941, due to the Pacific War and the Japanese aggression in Beiping, the PUMC was closed, and Feng went to Chongqing, the wartime capital of China.

In 1943, Feng became the acting director of the Medical Research Institute (preparatory) of Academia Sinica.

In 1945, invited by the British Council, Feng visited UK.

In 1947, Feng was a visiting scholar at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (current Rockefeller University) in New York City.

Feng was Academician of Academia Sinica since 1948.

Feng was President and later Honorary President of the Chinese Physiological Society.

Feng was also Vice-President, and the Division Chair of Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Feng was a representative of the first, second, and third National People's Congress (NPC) of the People's Republic of China.

Feng was professor of physiology at the Shanghai Medical College (current Fudan University Medical School), and the Director (1950–1984) and later Honorary Director (from 1984 till Feng's death) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Physiology (also in Shanghai).

He had been a member of the National Standing Committee of the People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) of China from 1978 to his death.

Feng's research includes