| February is Black History Month, and in anticipation of Rare Disease Day on February 28, we are highlighting inventions and developments by African Americans that have provided support and improvements to the lives of those with rare diseases. Special thanks to RPV Business Development Associate Jessica Bolden for the research and work she did on this feature. |
Newborn screening for sickle cell disease – Marilyn Hughes Gaston, M.D. devoted time to studying sickle cell disease, and largely due to a study she published, legislation from Congress ultimately funded and promoted newborn screening for SCD. Read more: https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_124.html
Progress in modern chemotherapy – In a time when chemotherapy use was developmental, Dr. Jane Cooke Wright, along with her physician father, focused on chemicals that were anti-cancer. After she conducted trials on patients with various forms of cancer, levels of remission were found with some of them. Read more: https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_336.html
Treatment for cataracts – The risk of developing cataracts is heightened by Grave’s disease. The Laserphaco Probe, invented by Dr. Patricia Bath, allows for a treatment that is less invasive. The probe goes into the eye, and with lasers, accurately demolishes cataracts. Read more: https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/patricia-bath
Pacemaker improvement – Otis Boykin lost his mother when he was only a year old, and this event served as the inspiration to his improving the pacemaker. He invented an apparatus that maintains a regular heartbeat through electricity. Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otis_Boykin
Mobility assistance with elevators – There was a time when elevator doors had to be physically opened and closed, which increased the risk of people falling down the elevator shaft if the shaft wasn’t closed. Alexander Mile’s daughter fell down an elevator shaft and almost didn’t survive, and it’s said that this incident inspired his idea for his elevator door invention. With his machine, elevator doors opened and closed automatically instead of manually. Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Miles
Aid for those needing help feeding themselves – As a physical therapist who understood the challenges of her amputee patients, Bessie Blount Griffin invented a gadget that delivers food to the mouths of those who have trouble feeding or cannot feed themselves. Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Blount_Griffin
Blood storage improvements – Lives were saved in World War 2 with the assistance of the blood banks Charles Richard Drew implemented. The method in which blood was stored was improved due to his blood transfusion research, impacting the lives of people with hemophilia and other blood disorders. Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_R._Drew
Walker inspired by a multiple sclerosis patient – After inventor Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner’s sister developed MS, she patented a walker that had a tray and pocket, both of which were attachable. Read more: https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/mary-beatrice-davidson-kenner
