It gives me great pleasure to announce that the Third Intercontinental Meeting of Hair Research Societies, held from the 13th to the 15th of June, 2001 at Chinzanso in Tokyo, was a resounding success, with over 320 participants from 20 different countries including America, Europe, Australasia and Asia attending. On behalf of the Society for Hair Science Research (SHSR), I would like to express our gratitude for the support of the North American Hair Research Society, the European Hair Research Society, the Australasian Hair and Wool Research Society and numerous domestic and foreign pharmaceutical companies, whose generous contributions made the success of this meeting possible This, the largest triennial gathering of hair societies and the first of the new millennium, provided a unique opportunity for scientists and clinicians to exchange knowledge and build friendships. The meeting consisted of two keynote lectures, four workshops, plenary sessions, poster sessions and two luncheon seminars. We are also proud to announce that, with the aim of making the fruits of this very productive meeting available to the entire international community of dermatologists, we have undertaken the publication of all the abstracts and selected presentations delivered at the meeting in this Journal of Investigative Dermatology Symposium Proceedings. The Proceedings include a succinct summary by the chairperson of the workshops, as well as articles chosen from the plenary and poster sessions by the reviewers on the basis of their merit. It is my sincere hope that these proceedings will contribute to advancing our understanding of hair biology and hair diseases, and serve as a point of departure for even greater achievements in the field. Finally, I sincerely thank Dr. Susumu Takayasu, Oita Medical University, for his contribution to the organization of the scientific program of the meeting, and Dr. David A. Whiting, Baylor Hair Research and Treatment Center, Dr. Paul R. Bergstresser, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Dr. Ryoji Tsuboi, Tokyo Medical University, for their contributions in the time-consuming task of the final editing of all of the manuscripts.