Professor who advanced the understanding of immunological disorders of pregnancy, ovarian cancers, and miscarriage

James Scott was professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at Leeds University for three decades and carried out original research into the aetiology and treatment of pre-eclampsia and eclampsia, and diseases caused by an immunological mismatch between mother and baby. He spent three years as dean of medicine at Leeds, continuing his department work during this time.

He co-edited Immunology of Human Reproduction (1976) with his pupil Warren Jones, and wrote Pregnancy, Autoimmunity, and Connective Tissue Diseases (1990).

James Steel Scott was born in Glasgow into a medical family and trained at Glasgow University, gaining his obstetric experience at the Rotunda in Dublin. After qualifying he did his national service in west Africa, where he was disciplined for losing a fleet of lorries in a prawn fishing expedition in Nigeria. On his return he trained as an obstetrician and gynaecologist at Queen Charlotte's Hospital in London and then in Birmingham, before moving to Liverpool as obstetric tutor in 1954. He rose to lecturer and then senior …