The first person to find a leprosy medication was a female scientist

Alice Augusta Ball is an African-American chemist who has discovered and successfully developed the first treatment for leprosy patients.

Alice Augusta Ball was born on July 24, 1892 in Seattle, Washington, USA, whose mother is Laura, a photographer and her father is James P. Ball, Jr., a lawyer. She has two brothers, Robert and William and a younger sister, Addie. Her grandfather is a famous photographer so his family enjoys a full life.

In 1903, they moved from cold Seattle to Honolulu, which had warmer weather in the hope that her father's joint pain would be reduced. Sadly, he died shortly afterwards and the family returned to Seattle. Ball excelled at Seattle High School and graduated in 1910. She was the first African-American and the first woman to receive a master's degree in chemistry from the University of Hawaii (now University of Hawaii) . Unfortunately, she died at a young age, at the age of 24. During her short life, she did not realize all the powerful effects of her scientific invention. Many years after her death, her merits were recognized.

Portrait of Alice Ball scientist.

After graduating from the university of pharmacy (1912) and pharmacy (1914) from Washington University, Alice Ball moved to Hawaii College (now University of Hawaii) and became the first African-American and She was also the first woman to graduate with a master's degree in chemistry in 1915. Immediately, she was accepted to teach, research and become the school's first female chemical lecturer. At that time Ball was only 23 years old.

As a laboratory researcher, Ball worked very hard to develop a successful treatment for people with leprosy. Her research has helped create the first leprosy treatment by using oil from the giant pandas. Until then, this oil was only used as a topical medicine in Chinese and Indian medicine.

Ball successfully separated the oil into various fatty acid components that allowed the blending of the oil into a soluble form with water. Her accuracy and rigor in research and manipulation have created an excellent remedy to alleviate leprosy symptoms, which later became known as the "Ball Method" . This method has been used for thousands of people infected for more than 30 years until sulfone drugs are put into use.

With the success of this method, leprosy patients from across hospitals and facilities around the globe, have been returning home when symptoms no longer exist.

Alice Augusta Ball was the first person to find a cure for leprosy from oil of the giant tree , helping thousands of patients worldwide.

Sadly, Ball died on December 31, 1916, when he was 24 years old after complications caused by inhaling chlorine gas in a laboratory accident. During her short life, she did not realize all the effects and strong influences from her research. Not only that, after her death, Dr. Arthur Dean - Headmaster of Hawaii College, continued to develop Ball's research that ignored her contributions and merits. Dean even set himself another name "Method Dean".

In 1922, six years after her death, Dr. Harry T. Hollmann, surgical assistant at Kalihi Hospital, who initially encouraged the Ball to discover great oil, published an article to return it. fair and worthy contribution from her. However, in the history of science, Ball was still forgotten until recently.

In 2000, the University of Hawaii placed a bronze plaque in front of the pseudonym on campus to honor Alice Ball's life along with her important discovery. Former Hawaii governor, Mazie Hirono, also announced February 29 as 'Alice Ball Day'. In 2007, the University of Hawaii awarded her a special Medal of Regents.

In 2017, Paul Wermager, a scholar who studied, published and taught about Alice Ball for many years at the University of Hawaii, founded the Alice Augusta Ball Club to award scholarships to support students in the school. Natural science is pursuing research in chemistry, biology or microbiology. Recognizing the importance of Ball through this scholarship, Wermager said: 'Not only have we overcome the racial and gender barriers of our time to become one of the very few African-American women. earning a master's degree in chemistry, she also found the first treatment for leprosy. Unfortunately, her life ended so briefly at the age of 24. Who knows what other great achievements Ball can achieve if she is alive. '