Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller was a pioneering African American psychiatrist who made significant contributions to the study of Alzheimer's disease. He was born in 1872 in Liberia and immigrated to the United States for additional educational opportunities in 1889. He subsequently earned his medical degree at Boston University in 1897. In 1904, German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer invited Dr. Fuller to serve as a graduate research assistant at the Royal Psychiatric Hospital in Munich.
He subsequently returned to the United States to serve as a pathologist and psychiatrist at Westborough State Hospital, becoming the nation's first black psychiatrist. At Westborough, he continued his work examining the brain tissues of cadavers. His discovery of amyloid plaques in the brain tissue of cadavers with Alzheimer's dementia paved the way for our modern understanding of Alzheimer's.
Dr. Fuller also helped develop the neuropsychiatric unit at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama, personally training the doctors who went on to head the department. Dr. Fuller's knowledge of the venereal disease, syphilis later helped these doctors diagnose syphilis in Black World War II veterans who had been misdiagnosed with behavioral disorders.
In 1919, Dr. Fuller returned to Boston University Medical School to teach pathology. He worked there for 34 years until blindness caused by diabetes forced him to retire. Despite his condition, he continued to practice psychiatry privately from his home until his death in 1953.
He subsequently returned to the United States to serve as a pathologist and psychiatrist at Westborough State Hospital, becoming the nation's first black psychiatrist. At Westborough, he continued his work examining the brain tissues of cadavers. His discovery of amyloid plaques in the brain tissue of cadavers with Alzheimer's dementia paved the way for our modern understanding of Alzheimer's.
Dr. Fuller also helped develop the neuropsychiatric unit at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama, personally training the doctors who went on to head the department. Dr. Fuller's knowledge of the venereal disease, syphilis later helped these doctors diagnose syphilis in Black World War II veterans who had been misdiagnosed with behavioral disorders.
In 1919, Dr. Fuller returned to Boston University Medical School to teach pathology. He worked there for 34 years until blindness caused by diabetes forced him to retire. Despite his condition, he continued to practice psychiatry privately from his home until his death in 1953.