In 1996, the National Bladder Foundation (NBF) was founded by a dedicated group of physicians and researchers propeIled by the urgent need to find better treatments for bladder disease. Committed to increasing bladder disease research and to supporting its research community, the NBF coordinates and sponsors the International Bladder Symposium (IBS) in Washington, DC. Now considered to be a premier scientific assembly, the IBS brings together international leaders in bladder disease research to present and discuss their findings. It is the only international conference where all areas of bladder disease research are exclusively covered and where bladder disease researchers are provided with a unique opportunity to share their results and theories. IBS participants contributed the research papers included in this publication in 2000 and 2001. AIl substantial areas of bladder disease research are addressed, including oncology and ceIlular biology, neurophysiology, neurogenic bladder and incontinence, immunology, inflammation and infection, muscle, matrix and obstruction, and new frontiers and therapies of the bladder. Assembled in one publication, these papers and their findings demonstrate the high scientific caliber of the dedicated researchers in this field and the potential for significant discoveries in treatment options in the next decade.