His early research focussed on gastric acid output, large bowel motility and the pathophysiology of the anal sphincter.
The latter part of his career was in an administrative role as Provost of the University of Wales College of Medicine in Cardiff and as a member of the General Medical Council.
[1] After residency posts he was called up for National Service and was promoted captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps serving in Egypt from 1954 to 1956.
Having decided on a career in surgery he obtained the fellowships of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh winning the gold medal as the best candidate in the examination.
Here he worked under Professor Sir Charles Illingworth, joining the academic departmental programme of research into gastrointestinal physiology, studying in particular gastric acid secretion and large bowel motility.
He was appointed senior lecturer then reader in surgery at the University of Leeds with Professor John Goligher and was awarded the degree of MD in 1962.