Alice Augusta Ball
An Afro-American chemist and pharmacist who developed an effective and injectable treatment for leprosy (Hansen’s disease) ,her story long forgotten.
Featuring artwork & words by Dr. Eleonora Adami, Sci-Illustrate Stories. Set in motion by Dr. Radhika Patnala.
Early life
Alice Augusta Ball (1892–1916) was born in Seattle, Washington, into a middle class family. Her grandfather was a famous photographer, well-versed in the new art of daguerreotype, generally considered the first commercially successful photographic process that involved printing on metal plates.
It is perhaps observing members of her family routinely using reagents such as silver iodide, mercury and salt, that she developed an interest in chemistry.
Alice earned bachelor degrees in pharmaceutical chemistry and pharmacy from the University of Washington and then returned to Hawaii, where she briefly lived between 1902–1904, to continue her education. She became the first African American woman to earn a master’s degree. The experimental work of her master’s thesis focused on the identification of active compounds of the Kava root, used especially in the Pacific islands for its sedative and anaesthetic properties.
In 1915 she was only 23 years old and was offered a teaching and research position. Thereafter, she began to work extensively on another plant with medicinal properties.
The Ball Method
The oil from the Chaulmoogra tree had been used, until then with moderately positive and inconsistent results, for the treatment of leprosy (Hansen’s disease). The oil was derived from the seeds of the evergreen plant and administered topically or orally, with important side effects.
As an ointment the oil was too sticky, if injected caused nausea. When doctors tried to inject it, because of its viscosity it would cause “bubble wrap” blisters under the skin of patients rather than being absorbed.
Alice isolated the active compounds of the plant extract and using alcohol created the ethyl ester form, which meant it was now possible to create a water-soluble injectable drug that would go into the bloodstream. This method led to the creation of the most effective formulation to treat leprosy up until 1940, when sulfone drugs were introduced.
Death and recognition
Alice died in 1916, aged 24, probably resulting from complications due to inhalation of chlorine gas in the lab. Unfortunately she was not able to appreciate the impact her work would have, and she was almost lost to history. When she died her results were still unpublished and the president of the university of Hawaii (back then The College of Hawaii) added to her work, called it “The Dean method” — he was named Dean — and stole her thunder. And it was only in 1922, when Dr Hamilton, a surgeon who initially approached her to help him find an injectable leprosy treatment, published a paper giving her proper credit, that her story re-surfaced.
In 2007, the University of Hawaii awarded her with the Regents’ Medal of Distinction and ten years later a scholarship to support Natural Sciences students was established in her name.
These days a movie about her is being presented at the Annual Pan-American Film Festival (Paff 2020), entitled the Ball Method directed by Dag Abebe, which we hope will bring her story to a wider audience.
TIMELINE
1892 Born in Seattle, Washington
1902–1904 Lives in Hawaii, in hopes the warm climate would benefit her granpa’s health
1912&1914 Earns bachelor degrees
1915 Earns Masters at University of Hawaii and starts working as a researcher and instructor at the Chemistry Dept.
1916 Dies aged 24.
1922 A paper is published by Dr. Hamilton, giving her credits for the leprosy treatment she developed.
2007 Posthumously awarded Regents’ Medal of Distinction by Former Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii, Mazie Hirono.
2017 A scholarship is established in her name.
Artist’s note
Alice’s story struck me as a tragic example of a voice being almost lost to history. She was ‘a first’ in many things she did, developed a method that led to treatment of thousands of people…and yet, only recently we started talking about her again.
REFs / If you want to know more
About the author and artist
DR. ELEONORA ADAMI
Content editor and contributing artist
Women in Science, Sci-Illustrate Stories
Eleonora is a proud descendant of ancient Romans. Besides that, she is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at Duke-NUS in Singapore, working in the cardiovascular and metabolic diseases area. She has a biotechnology (BSc) and functional genomics (MSc) background, and has obtained her PhD in molecular biology and genetics in Germany before going to the far east.
Eleonora thinks of herself as a carrier pigeon, always on the go, trying to find new adventures and challenges. Ok, maybe pigeons are not very adventurous, but they were once useful to deliver important messages. One of the messages she likes to bring across is that we need more art in scientific practices. Creative thinking benefits both disciplines.
A passion for illustration has always accompanied her and percolates in her scientific work. She started the collaboration with the Sci-Illustrate team after attending their course on scientific illustration.
About this series:
Not enough can be said about the amazing Women in Science who did and continue to do their part in moving the world forward.
Every month, through the artwork & words of the Sci-Illustrate team, we will bring to you profiles of women who touched our hearts (and brains) with their scientific works, and of many more who currently hold the flag high in their own fields!
-Dr. Radhika Patnala, Series Director
