Updated: February 04, 2021 11:31 IST Ball Method, was the only pain-free treatment for leprosy available for over thirty years until sulfone drugs were introduced Share Article AAA Ball Method, was the only pain-free treatment for leprosy available for over thirty years until sulfone drugs were introduced Alice Augusta Ball (1892–1916) was an African American chemist who developed an injectable oil extract, the first successful treatment for leprosy. It was used until the 1940s. However, she did not get credit for her discovery for nearly 90 years. Some attribute this to gender and racial discrimination. Ball was born in 1892, in Washington, to James Presley, a newspaper editor, and Laura Louise, a photographer. After graduating from Seattle High School in 1910, Ball earned her bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical chemistry from the University of Washington, and her master’s degree from the College of Hawaii (now known as the University of Hawaii), in 1915. Alice Ball was the first woman and first African American to receive a master's degree from the University of Hawaii and the the first woman chemistry professor at the university.