Thisyear, the5thInternationalSymposiumonMedicalDataAnalysishasexperimented an apparently slight modi?cation. The word biological has been added to the title of the conferences. The motivation for this shift goes beyond the wish to attract a diff- ent kind of professional. It is linked to recent trends to produce a shift within various biomedical areas towards genomics-based research and practice. For instance, medical informaticsandbioinformaticsarebeinglinkedina synergicareadenominatedbiom- ical informatics.Similarly, patient careis beingimproved, leadingto conceptsandareas such as molecular...