Welcome to the international journey to improving human health

Welcome to the international journey to improving human health It is with great excitement that I welcome you to the International Journal of Nanomedicine (IJN). This new journal has been launched to bring you the latest, exciting, up-to-date research conducted at the intersection of nanotechnology and medicine. As you will see in this issue alone, researchers from around the world are actively pursuing numerous efforts to improve human health through nanotechnology; it is truly an international effort! A recent survey found that governmental nanotechnology programs were funding research worldwide up to an estimated US$5 billion (€3 billion) in 2004 alone (Wagner V and Zweck A 2005 September 30, pers comm). Three countries in particular, the US, Germany, and Japan, have recently given clear commitments to nanomedicine by establishing focused nanomedicine research funding programs. These trends will only increase as the global interest in nanomedicine is only in its infancy. In fact, the projected nanotechnology business market to enhance medical products is expected to be about US$25 billion (or €15 billion) in 2012 (Wagner V and Zweck A 2005 September 30, pers comm). Not only is nanomedicine a growing area of interest for business, but it is also a growing area of interest for researchers. Nanomedicine research has surged over the past decade, in particular, publication numbers have jumped from about 10 per year in the late 1980s to more than 1200 in 2004 (Wagner V and Zweck A 2005 September 30, pers comm). Again, the equal global commitment to nanotechnology is shown by the fact that 39%, 28%, and 22% of these publications originated from research conducted in the US, Europe, and Asia, respectively (Wagner V and Zweck A 2005 September 30, pers comm). Nanomedicine now accounts for about 5% of nanotechnology publications worldwide. To date, the dominant research field in nanomedicine has been drug delivery, contributing 72% of the scientific papers, followed by in vitro diagnostics contributing about 15% (the remainder come from implants, tissue engineering, and other medical applications) (Wagner V and Zweck A 2005 September 30, pers comm). Clearly, ample global research is being conducted at the intersection of nanotechnology and medicine to warrant a journal specifically dedicated to nanomedicine; this is the void that IJN will fill. When introducing this journal to colleagues, however, one question that I was often asked was: " What is nanomedicine? " While I believe this definition will continue to evolve …