Dr. Paul Wilson Brand, 88; Used Reconstructive Surgery for Leprosy

Dr. Paul Wilson Brand, 88, who pioneered the use of reconstructive surgery to ease the ravages of leprosy and diabetes on hands and feet, died Tuesday in Seattle of complications from a blood clot in the brain.

Born in India to a missionary family, Brand attended medical school at London University. He began using reconstructive surgery to help people with leprosy in the late 1940s.

He later adapted the work for patients with diabetes, which, like leprosy, deadens the sensation of pain.

In 1966, Brand was invited by the U.S. Public Health Service to work at the National Leprosarium in Carville, La. He became chief of rehabilitation at the facility, and for more than 20 years conducted research and taught surgery and orthopedics at the Medical College at Louisiana State University.

Brand served on the Expert Panel for Leprosy of the World Health Organization and as president of the London-based Leprosy Mission International. He co-founded the All-Africa Leprosy and Rehabilitation Training Center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

He retired in the mid-1980s and moved to Seattle.