DR Colin McDougall, who made an important contribution to the understanding of leprosy while at Oxford University, has died aged 81.

Following his appointment as leprosy specialist to the Zambian health ministry in 1967, he returned to Britain and made it the base for his pioneering research programme.

When he started work in Zambia, the country's leprosy programme was centred on hospitals and mission-run institutions, with one government referral hospital.

No staff were trained in leprosy control work, and on Dr McDougall's initiative, Zambian medical assistants were sent off to the All Africa Leprosy and Rehabilitation Training Centre, in Addis Ababa.

In 1970, Dr McDougall joined the Department of Human Anatomy at Oxford University and collaborated in a series of studies on the histology of leprosy and the distribution of the bacillus Mycobactarium leprae (M. leprae).

This led to one of his key pieces of work at the dermatology unit in Oxford, which confirmed the nasal excretion of M. leprae.

Born in Northumberland, Dr McDougall was the son of a doctor who had been a chest physician during the First World War.

His father got him into medical school in Edinburgh at the age of 16, and after qualifying age 21 in 1946, he worked at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford, and in general practice.

In 1953, he joined the Royal Singapore Anti-Tuberculosis Association, where he worked for three years.

He then trained in clinical medicine at the Norfolk and Norwich hospital, followed by work in Sumatra, Aden and Algeria, before the invitation came from Gambia.

He retired in 1998, but continued to write, travel and advise people, and was an enthusiastic member of the Leprosy History project.

Instead of a funeral, Dr McDougall's life was celebrated at his Oxfordshire farmhouse home with family and friends, following his death on February 16.

He is survived by his wife Jo, and daughters Hannah and Alice.