A STROUD-born doctor is set to save millions of people from disfigurement and misery after his team of medical researchers made a major breakthrough.

Top tropical disease specialist Dr Mark Porter discovered that elephantiasis - which causes grotesque swelling of the limbs - could be cured by a simple course of antibiotics.

Speaking to the SNJ this week, he hailed the discovery as: "A very significant breakthrough of major importance."

Elephantiasis, scientifically known as bancroftian filariasis, is spread by mosquitoes and brings misery to millions of people across Africa, India and the tropics.

But a team from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, led by Dr Taylor, found the key to destroying the disease lies in cheap, readily available drugs.

"It is actually nice to come up with a development which has some benefit right away, for people who are suffering," he said. "It is what you go into medicine for.

"After seeing what this disease does to people at first hand, it is good to be able to do something."

After a 14-month trial in Tanzania, the team found the worm-like parasite that causes the disease could be killed by eliminating the bacteria it depends on for survival.

"The bacteria live inside the worm and we found the worm and the bacteria were dependent on each other," said Dr Porter, who grew up in Randwick and was educated at Wycliffe College.

"If we kill the bacteria, the parasites stop producing offspring.

"The important thing is it can be done with a drug that is available already in these poor countries."

The disease rates as the second biggest cause of disability globally and affects millions every year. Often sufferers are treated as outcasts and frequently starve to death.

Dr Taylor now lives in Formby, near Liverpool, with his wife Kathryn, who also works at the School of Tropical Medicine, and son William.

His mother Diana said she and her husband John were very proud of their son's achievement.