Alice Ball, a pioneering black chemist who developed the first effective treatment for leprosy. She died in 1916 at the age of 24.
“Ball’s critical innovation was developing a method to chemically modify chaulmoogra oil’s fatty acids into ethyl esters, making the compound water-soluble and suitable for injection. This process, later called the “Ball Method,” allowed the drug to be absorbed into the bloodstream safely and efficiently, overcoming the problems that had prevented earlier use. By 1920, health authorities in Hawaiʻi reported that many patients who received the Ball Method were able to return home, rather than remain in lifelong quarantine. For more than two decades, the Ball Method was the standard treatment for leprosy worldwide.
“Ball died unexpectedly in 1916 at age 24 before she could publish her findings. After her death, others took credit for her work, but later scholarship and institutional recognition restored her legacy. Today, the Ball Method itself is medically obsolete, replaced by modern multidrug therapy; however, the technique marked a turning point between early botanical medicine and modern pharmaceutical chemistry and remains historically significant. Though her life was brief, her innovation dramatically changed medical outcomes and restored dignity and hope to thousands of patients worldwide.”
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Ball
