The sequencing of the genomes of humans and other organisms is inspiring the developmentofnew
statisticalandbioinformatics tools that we hope canmodify the current understanding of human
diseases and therapies. As our knowledge about the human genome increases so does our belief
that to fully grasp the mechanisms of diseases we need to understand their genetic basis and
the p- teomicsbehind them and to integratethe knowledgegeneratedin thelaboratory in clinical
settings. The new genetic and proteomic data has brought forth the possibility of developing
new targets and therapies based on these ?ndings of implementing newly developed preventive
measures and also of discovering new research approaches to old problems. To fully enhance our
understanding of disease processes to develop more and better therapies to combat and cure
diseases and to develop strategies to prevent them there is a need for synergy of the
disciplines involved medicine molecular biology biochemistry and computer science leading
to more recent ?elds such as bioinformatics and biomedical informatics. The 6th International
Symposium on Biological and Medical Data Analysis aimed to become a place where
researchersinvolved in these diversebut incre- ingly complementary areas could meet to present
and discuss their scienti?c results. The papers in this volume discuss issues from statistical
models to arc- tectures and applications to bioinformatics and biomedicine. They cover both
practical experience and novel research ideas and concepts.
