Chris Butler is Professor of Primary Care at University of Oxford. He is an academic general practitioner and an international leader in his discipline. He has the ability to integrate methodological rigour with a very practical perspective on what matters in clinical practice, marshalling high-level qualitative and quantitative methodological skills that cross disciplinary boundaries to address critical socio-medical questions. He still delivers patient-centred clinical care in an area of high social deprivation in the South Wales Valleys, while working highly productively with basic and social scientists to answer challenging scientific questions that really matter to society.