Many are the references that pertain to ischemia reperfusion (IR) in the literature, especially in the last 20 years where there has been a dedicated commitment of scientists, physicians and surgeons to advance the field of IR (1-3). All organs have been studied in the past and the majority of therapeutic developments as it pertain to cardiovascular, neurological, digestive, renal and other surgical diseases frequently seen in clinical practice (4, 5). Because of the interest of so many dedicated professionals, this issue is oriented to review several recent advances. In particular, those that have made some progress in the treatment or understanding of the IR phenomenon. We have considered any work with the potential to establish a link to other developments in the ischemia and reperfusion field. One editorial and eight scientific works are assembled in this special IR themed issue. These works are ranging from new methods to treat IR injury, characteristics defining IR, consequences of this lesion, new methodologies and new animal models of disease. We are pleased that our issue is international, including works from the United States,