The beautiful city of Porto on the Portuguese Atlantic coast was the venue for 'Modern Mucosal Vaccines, Adjuvants and Microbicides' which was held from October 22-24, 2008. The presence of a diverse audience from academia, industry and public bodies indicated a growing interest in this field and on the basis of the data presented and the energy displayed, this discipline is in good shape and has the potential to deliver significant advances over the coming decade.