“We discovered that over a ten-year period boys’ voices were breaking around four months earlier, ” Juul says, surrounded by precarious stacks of research papers and medical journals in his office.

His appointment has reassured Wall Street, as it means that there will be a relatively seamless transfer of power during the transition period until Mr Obama takes office in January.

Over a period of a few weeks, I was able to keep my efficiency ratio above 80% while gradually increasing my total weekly office time.