1915 - Development of the "Ball Method", the most effective treatment for leprosy during the early 20th century.

* At age 23, Ball developed a technique to make the chaulmoogra oil injectable and water-soluble. * Her technique involved isolating ester compounds from the fatty acids found in the oils and chemically modifying them, producing a substance that retained the oil's therapeutic properties and was absorbed by the body when injected. * Ball was unable to publish her revolutionary findings before her untimely death in 1916. * Arthur L. Dean, a chemist and Ball's graduate study advisor, dean of the college, and later president of the university, was privy to details of the process she developed. * After Ball's death, Dean undertook further trials and by 1919, a college chemistry laboratory was producing large quantities of the injectable chaulmoogra extract. * Dean published details of the work and the findings without acknowledging Ball as the originator or crediting her work.

Ball Method to treat leprosy

Category:
Pharmacology

Completion Status:
done

Patent Number:
N/A

Co-Inventor:
questionable-Arthur L. Dean her thesis advisor claimed the treatment for leprosy after her death