Nikolai Vasilyevich Lazarev, toxicologist and pharmacologist, comes in from the cold.

Important and pioneering work on the physicochemical properties underlying the biological activity of nonelectrolytes was performed 'behind the iron curtain' by Soviet scientist Nikolai Vasilyevich Lazarev. In this Special Feature, Robert Lipnick and Vladimir Filov examine the contribution of Lazarev's numerous observations to the knowledge base in pharmacology and toxicology, which has only recently gained recognition in the West.