The conference on Nutrition and Immunity, held in Atlanta, GA, in 1997, was sponsored by the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) Research Foundation, Emory University School of Medicine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Cancer Society. The conference explored current scientific understanding of the complex relationships between nutrition, health, and immunity. It provided a forum for nutrition scientists, immunologists, and public health practitioners to share their knowledge, experience, and insights and, importantly, to identify gaps and uncertainties in scientific understanding and to develop approaches to better understand the relationships between nutrition, immunology, and health.