02/12/2024
In celebration of , we honor Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller, the first African-American psychiatrist and a pioneer in dementia research who worked alongside Dr. Alois Alzheimer.
Born in Africa in 1872, Dr. Fuller was the grandson of enslaved people in Virginia who purchased their freedom and moved to Liberia. After moving to the United States in 1889 to complete his undergraduate degree, Dr. Fuller graduated with an MD from the Boston University School of Medicine, a school open to all genders and racial/ethnic groups.
After completing medical school, Dr. Fuller conducted research in Dr. Alzheimer’s lab, doing anatomical preparations and examining the resulting brain samples. It was this work in this lab that led to the discovery of traits for disease in 1906 that bears Dr. Alzheimer’s name.
Dr. Fuller’s central presence in Dr. Alzheimer's lab makes a point about diversity. His involvement at the very beginning, providing his perspective as part of Dr. Alzheimer’s team, is an important legacy that should influence how we continue to move forward.
We should be inspired by Dr. Fuller’s legacy, and commit to diversity in reserach labs and in clinical trials to strive for a common goal: to understand — and ultimately — end Alzheimer’s and all dementia in all populations.
