author
Alice A. Ball
1892–1916
Best known for developing the “Ball Method,” she helped turn chaulmoogra oil into the first effective treatment for Hansen’s disease at a time when options were painfully limited. Her career lasted only a few years, but her work changed lives and later earned long-overdue recognition.
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About the author
Born in Seattle in 1892, Alice Augusta Ball studied pharmaceutical chemistry and pharmacy at the University of Washington before continuing her education at the College of Hawaii. There she became the first woman and the first Black student to earn a master's degree in chemistry at the school, and she later taught chemistry there as an instructor.
Ball is remembered for solving a difficult medical problem: how to make chaulmoogra oil usable as a treatment for Hansen’s disease, also known as leprosy. By isolating and modifying compounds from the oil into a form that could be injected, she created what became known as the Ball Method, the most effective treatment available before antibiotics.
She died in 1916 at just 24 years old, and for a time her contribution was overshadowed. In the years since, historians and scientific organizations have helped restore her place in the story of modern chemistry and medicine, recognizing both the brilliance of her research and the barriers she overcame.