Each contribution to the meeting will be classified on three axes: methods employed, goals or problems addressed, and application domain. In general, contributions emphasizing methods will be part of the foundations track and those emphasizing problems will be part of the applications track. Taken together, the specific methods, goals, and domains listed below define the full scope of the AMIA 2006 Symposium.

Axis I. METHODS EMPLOYED
I.A. INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION
I.A.1. Controlled terminologies and vocabularies
I.A.2. Ontologies and knowledge bases
I.A.3. Data models and knowledge representations
I.A.4. Knowledge acquisition and knowledge management
I.A.5. Process modeling and hypothesis generation

I.B. INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE PROCESSING
I.B.1. Information storage and retrieval (text and images)
I.B.2. Natural-language processing, information extraction, and text generation
I.B.3. Simulation of complex systems (at all levels: molecules to work groups to organizations)
I.B.4. Human-computer interaction, human-centered computing, usability engineering
I.B.5. Uncertain reasoning, temporal reasoning, and decision theory
I.B.6. Statistical analysis of large datasets
I.B.7. Automated learning, discovery, and data mining methods
I.B.8. Software engineering: architecture, agents, distributed systems
I.B.9. Cryptography, database security, and anonymization
I.B.10. Image representation, processing, and analysis
I.B.11. Advanced algorithms, languages, and computational methods
I.B.12. Visualization of data and knowledge
I.B.13. High-performance and large-scale computing
I.B.14. High performance networking and advanced telecommunications (handheld devices)
I.B.15. Robotics (including sensory modalities)
I.B.16. Virtual reality
I.B.17. Biosensors
I.B.18. Speech recognition
I.B.19. Intelligent tutoring and tailored information representation
I.B.20. Integration of information from disparate sources
I.B.21. Collaborative technologies

I. C. EMPIRICAL RESEARCH
I.C.1. Cognitive (including experiments emphasizing verbal protocol analysis and usability)
I.C.2. Classical experiments and quasi-experiments (lab and field studies)
I.C.3. Qualitative/ethnographic field studies
I.C.4. Legal, policy, historical, ethical studies
I.C.5. Surveys and needs analyses
I.C.6. Social/organizational studies

Axis II. GOALS OR PROBLEMS ADDRESSED
II.1. Creating a Health Information Infrastructure: EHR Data standards and enterprise data exchange
II.2. Assuring information system security and personal privacy
II.3. Designing usable (responsive) resources and systems that are deployable within biomedical enterprises
II.4. Promoting integration of health-related enterprises
II.5. Improving health care outcomes
II.6. Improving patient safety and reducing medical errors
II.7. Detecting disease outbreaks & biological warfare
II.8. Demonstrating return on IT investment
II.9. Providing just-in-time access to the biomedical literature & other health information
II.10. Ensuring the competence of health professionals
II.11. Improving the efficiency of health-related organizations
II.12. Creating a public better informed about their own health and health issues in general
II.13. Identifying genome structure and function
II.14. Identifying protein structure and function
II.15. Linking the genotype and phenotype
II.16. Monitoring the health of populations
II.17. Extracting and linking biomedical data and knowledge from diverse primary sources (includes automated indexing)
II.18. Enhancing the conduct of basic biological research
II.19. Enhancing clinical trials and clinical research
II.20. Establishment of digital libraries
II.21. Creating a personal health record
II.22. Supporting diagnosis and individual practitioner decision-making
II.23. Supporting practice at a distance (tele-X)
II.24. Representing and modeling biological structures
II.25. Managing laboratory Information
II.26. Modeling disease from molecular changes to clinical manifestations
II.27. Inferring health policy from integrated data
II.28. Building specific EHR components (order entry, results review, decision support)

Axis III. APPLICATION DOMAINS
III. A. Health Care (emphasizing care of individuals)
III. B. Public Health (emphasizing health of populations)
III. C. Biomedical Research (basic research and clinical research)
III. D. Education of Health and Biomedical Professionals and Consumers
III. E. Administration/Management of Health-related organizations
III. F. Health Libraries and Librarianship