The ICTR conferences started in 2000 with the objective to update the radiation oncology community on the most recent advances in translational research, reinforce the synergies among clinicians, biologists and medical physicists, and, last but not least, trigger personal and institutional contacts favouring a more efficient collaboration between laboratories worldwide. The first edition of the Physics for Health workshop was organised by CERN in February 2010 with the objective of reviewing the progress in the domain of physics applications in life sciences, stimulating the exchange between different teams and indicating the subjects most suitable for further studies in diagnosis and therapy. The workshop, which was the first of its kind, brought together some 400 healthcare professionals, biologists and physicists to examine the increasingly important interface between physics and health. One of the main reasons to merge ICTR and PHE is to develop new strategies to treat cancer, by uniting biology and physics with clinics. These novel synergies will be the “red thread” that ICTRPHE 2012 will follow during this 5-day conference. In order to catalyse stimulating exchanges and interactions between experts and young researchers, top-ranked abstracts will be included in the Forum Workshop and Meet the Professor sessions. ICTR-PHE 2012 will also pay a tribute to those institutions and individuals who significantly contribute to the development of translational research in oncology. Last, but not least, we hope to foster a friendly atmosphere which will result in positive exchange throughout the conference. This Conference will develop further expansion of our partnership with industry, with concerted efforts in Research & Development and a common approach to emerging educational modalities in translational research. All this will be formalised through the publication of the Conference abstracts in a Supplement of “Radiotherapy and Oncology” fully dedicated to ICTR-PHE 2012. Setting up the stage of a new international conference is always a challenge, requiring an optimal coordination between all the components of the enterprise. But we are strongly convinced that the efforts we will put forth for a better integration along tracks where radiation physics, biology and medicine intertwine, will be key to success