The 2013 International Conference on Intelligent Biology and Medicine (ICIBM 2013) focuses on educating and training the next generation of bioinformatics, systems biology, and intelligent computing experts with up-to-date technologies and knowledge to further advance the future development within these innovative fields and beyond. ICIBM 2013 will facilitate programs that cater to multiple levels of research expertise so that those just beginning their research career can gain the highest level of training and information from experts and innovators, and those continuing with their research at higher levels have communication and collaborative opportunities that will significantly increase the success of research overall. To further disseminate the most innovative interdisciplinary research the program will include distinguished keynote lectures, innovative tutorial session, and research presentations. ICIBM 2013?s commitment to education and diversity, as evidenced by its support of underrepresented students and trainees, its unique training opportunities, and its inclusiveness even among its committees (including a culturally and disciplinarily diverse Trainee Committee to include young scientists more thoroughly), highlights it as an unprecedented resource for within bioinformatics, systems biology, intelligent computing, and related fields. These areas of research integrate science and engineering knowledge with modern, state-of-the-art intelligent computing technology.
ICIBM 2013 Summary and Feedback The International Conference on Intelligent Biology and Medicine 2013 ICIBM 2013) was held on August 11-13, 2013, at the Holiday Inn at Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee. Our program included one workshop, two tutorials, four keynote speeches, six presentation sessions (total of 40 presentations), and two poster sessions. The six presentation sessions were structured for researchers to showcase their recent innovative work in the areas of bioinformatics, systems biology, medical informatics, and intelligent computing. The presenters were chosen through a rigorous review process, and their work stood out among the submissions as novel and significant. These six regular sessions were: Next Generation Sequencing (NGS): Analysis and Tools, Network Analysis, Genomics, Systems Biology, Computational Medicine, and Intelligent Computing. After initial review of the received manuscripts from our call for papers, we invited the authors of the high-quality manuscripts to further expand for each of 4 special issues. All papers then were peer-reviewed again for scientific merits before acceptance. These ICIBM 2013 special issues included: BMC Genomics (a PubMed-indexed journal, SCI Impact Factor 4.40), "Selected Articles from the International Conference on Intelligent Biology and Medicine (ICIBM 2013): Genomics", which included 9 original research articles and one editorial (Vol 14, Suppl 8) BMC Systems Biology (a PubMed-indexed journal, SCI Impact Factor 2.98), "Selected articles from the International Conference on Intelligent Biology and Medicine (ICIBM 2013): Systems Biology", which included 10 research articles (Vol 7, Suppl 5) BioMed Research International (a PubMed-indexed journal, SCI Impact Factor 2.88), "Integrative Genomics and Computational Systems Medicine ", which included 14 original articles and an editorial (Vol. 2013) International Journal of Computational Biology and Drug Design (a PubMed-index Journal), "Computational Methods for Omics Data", which included 10 original articles and an editorial (Vol 7, No. 2/3) Accepted abstracts were presented in 2 poster sessions during the conference, which fostered excellent discussion and interaction among our attendees. The more than 110 attendees were diverse across their research areas, races/ethnicities, and general backgrounds, and they arrived from numerous institutions across the USA as well as several international institutions. We are confident that this NSF fund substantially assisted in making this event, and the experiences of the speakers and attendees, quite valuable and successful. Overall, ICIBM 2013 proved to be highly enriching for all attendees, fostering valuable collaborative dialogue between investigators from diverse institutions, disciplines, and backgrounds. Young researchers and students gleaned excellent training and feedback through this event that will continue to encourage high-level knowledge and research in the fields of bioinformatics, systems biology, and intelligent computing. This opportunity for interactions and training at ICIBM 2013 will, in turn, assist in continuing advancements and innovations in these important interdisciplinary fields, thereby furthering successful research in the future. Keynote Speakers and Travel Awardees Keynote speakers were selected among top colleagues in the fields of bioinformatics, systems biology, and intelligent computing. The Program Committee aimed to obtain a broad mix of backgrounds, and 4 top speakers in their respective fields were selected. All 4 selected keynote speakers were able to attend and present at the International Conference on Intelligent Biology and Medicine (ICIBM 2013): Drs. A. Keith Dunker (T. K. Li Professor of Medical Research, Director of Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Indiana University), Yixue Li (Professor and Director, Key Laboratory of Systems Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences), Lucila Ohno-Machado (Professor and Division Chief, University of California San Diego; Fellow, ACMI, AIMBE; Editor-in-Chief, JAMIA), and Dan M. Roden (William Stokes Chair in Experimental Therapeutics, Professor of Pharmacology, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Personalized Medicine, Vanderbilt University; Director, BioVU, Vanderbilt University; Fellow, AAAS; a national leader in pharmacogenomics and genomic medicine; he has mentored >60 trainees). All speakers selected have received top awards during their careers and provided strong research and service in their research areas, both at their respective institutions and to the research community at large. The participation of these speakers successfully enriched the conference experience, and their presentations fit extremely well with the goals of ICIBM 2013 by providing a highly educational event in which the new wave of investigators in their research disciplines, as well as trainees and students, were able to interact with and learn from highly accomplished and respected senior investigators through these keynote speaker presentations. Students and postdocs who submitted a paper and/or abstract on which they were the first author were highly encouraged to apply for the ICIBM 2013 Student Travel Award. The ultimate goal of this travel award was to encourage the participation of young scientists in training. We formed an Award Committee to develop guidelines and perform a fair review of applications. All student travel awardees received travel support and were presented with an award certificate. The 21 recipients of the award were from diverse backgrounds and represented 19 universities total.
