In July 1979, the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Bologna received a proposal from Professor Breccia to hold an International Conference on "Nitroimidazoles: Chemistry, Pharmacology and Clinical Application." Because of the great interest in these drugs in various fields, I was very pleased to accept the proposal and to give the conference the sponsorship of the University of Bologna. It was an added pleasure to accept the chairmanship of the meeting, together with Professors Sensi and Adams. At the same time, the Minister of Education approved a proposal which also came from the Faculty of Pharmacy, to offer an advanced course on the topic "Radiosensitizers of Hypoxic Cells This course was subsequently approved by a special Committee of the NATO Scientific Programme as an Advanced Study Institute. Since the subject matter of both the conference and the course are closely inter-related, it was logical to plan the conference as part of the overall course. Bringing together specialists from quite different and apparently unrelated fields of research, but all with an interest in the study and application of one single group of drugs, is a novel idea with intriguing possibilities. The volumes of the proceedings include contributions from experts with such diverse interests as synthetic chemistry, mechanism of drug action, parasitology, anaerobic bacteria and protozoa, pharmacology and toxicology, radiation sensitizers for use in radiotherapy, and the development of drugs for use in cancer in general.