Since our beginning, the mission of Nature Reviews Disease Primers has been to provide newcomers to medicine and established experts with comprehensive summaries of current and emerging knowledge and clinical practice in a specific disease, disorder or condition. We have now published more than 400 Primers and accompanying PrimeViews, covering the spectrum of medical disciplines, ranging from highly prevalent infectious diseases to rare congenital conditions, and from acute traumatic injuries to chronic illnesses. We have also started to use the Primer format to explore complex disease states, such as multimorbidity and metabolic syndrome, which require co-ordinated multidisciplinary care and are becoming more prevalent in our ageing and increasingly urban societies.

During the past decade, medicine and patient care have changed considerably. Substantial innovations have been made in treatments, such as the approvals of glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists and various new forms of immunotherapies, and transformative technological developments, such as improvements in robotic surgery, the expansion of telemedicine and the promises of machine learning and artificial intelligence. In this changing environment, supporting learning and continuous education has only become more important. The pace of innovation in some areas has enabled us to commission new versions of specific Primers, for example on glioma and on osteoarthritis, to ensure our content remains timely and provides the best service to our readers.

“In this changing environment, supporting learning and continuous education has only become more important.”

Our hope is that our contribution supports medical researchers and clinicians in their investigations and practice to ensure all patients receive effective, high-quality care that minimizes their hardship and improves their quality of life. However, research and healthcare do not exist in a vacuum: their execution, provision, quality and accessibility are influenced by financial constraints, as well as societal and political values. In the past 5 years, we have invited and published several Comments that provide a more global context to the clinical discussions in our Primers and highlight some of the challenges and opportunities faced across all medical specialties. In these articles, our authors have addressed topics relating to care needs of specific populations, such as homeless people and those in correctional systems, equitable care regardless of race, sexuality or disease, as well as care delivery and its barriers, including economic burden, technology and decision-making.

Importantly, many professions are working together to support an individual on their healthcare journey. Hence, we are now starting to feature the perspectives of allied health professionals to provide a broad view of a patient’s interactions with the healthcare system and to highlight the many contributions made to improve their well-being and outcomes. For example, in their Comment, Borle and Austin discuss how the genetic counsellor supports patient empowerment by helping an individual understand the meaning of genetic information and use that knowledge in decision-making on their healthcare journey in alignment with their needs. They advocate for stronger integration of genetic counsellors in primary care settings to better realize the benefits of genomic medicine and improve patient outcomes.

As societal and political factors shift and change, healthcare can improve or deteriorate. The remaining constant is the individual who has a need for medical care. Minimizing the pain, distress or disability of all patients and supporting their physical, mental and emotional well-being must remain at the centre of care decision-making and provision at the political, societal, institutional and individual level. Our vision at Nature Reviews Disease Primers is, therefore, that our authoritative Primers with disease-specific content and our pan-disciplinary Comments that address global health topics support our readers in their efforts to advance and provide best care in a changing world.

Writing a Primer is a considerable project that requires a substantial amount of co-ordination and dedication in creation and refinement from our authors. Peer reviewing articles with such a large scope and providing insightful and constructive comments is also a demanding task. For their commitment and for agreeing to fit this work into their busy schedules, we want to thank all authors and referees who have contributed to the journal in the past years and helped us in our mission. We are also grateful for all the interactions and insights via email, on calls and at conferences, which have enabled us to continue learning about the multiple medical disciplines that we serve. We will continue to use this knowledge to support all those who strive to improve the lives of individuals who are in need of healthcare.