"It is neither a wholly mechanistic nor a wholly metaphysical question. Yet it remains for many patients a deeply important one: What is this disease doing to me?"

Richard Horton qualified in physiology and medicine with honours from the University of Birmingham in 1986. He joined The Lancet in 1990, moving to New York as North American Editor in 1993. In 2020, he published The COVID-19 Catastrophe: What’s Gone Wrong and How to Stop It Happening Again.