Alice Augusta Ball (1892-1916) was an African American scientist that would be responsible for creat
Alice Augusta Ball (1892-1916) was an African American scientist that would be responsible for creating an injectable treatment for Leprosy. Born in Seattle, she and her family would move to Hawaii during her early childhood to live with her grandfather J. P. Ball Sr., a famous businessman and abolitionist, until his death. After his passing, they returned to Washington, where Ball would earn degrees in pharmaceutical chemistry and a bachelor’s in pharmacy from the University of Washington. To further her education she moved back to Hawaii, where she would become the first woman and African American to earn a master’s degree from the University of Hawaii and would also become the first woman to teach chemistry at the university. Ball’s master’s thesis work revolved around chemical extraction from the Kava root, and after witnessing her skills for it, was requested to try and isolate the chemicals from Chaulmoogra oil, which had been used to treat Leprosy but with unreliable success. Ball managed to isolate the chemicals in the oil, a process that had to this point evaded other researchers. Her treatment would be named the Ball Method and was incredibly successful in treating the disease and even stopped the banishment of lepers to colonies in Hawaii and lead to the release of others from their banishment. She was awarded the Regents’ Medals of Distinction posthumously for her important contribution to chemical science. -- source link
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