Professor Hans Kosterlitz was a German-born British biochemist. Forced to leave Germany in 1934 after anti-Semitic legislation barred him from his job in Berlin, he became a research assistant in the Physiology Department at the University of Aberdeen, under Professor J J R MacLeod. He held various posts, Carnegie Teaching Fellow, Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and Reader. At the age of 65, he became the first Professor of Pharmacology.
In 1975, he discovered enkephalins, small proteins in the brain which, along with other similar molecules, are known collectively as endorphins, the body’s own painkillers. This led to further work on how the body deals with pain.
The Kosterlitz Centre for Industrial Engagement at the University of Aberdeen is named in his honour.
