The International Symposium on Bioinformatics Research and Applications (ISBRA) provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and results among researchers, developers, and practitioners working on all aspects of bioinformatics and computational biology and their applications. Authors are invited to submit papers that demonstrate original unpublished research in all areas of bioinformatics and computational biology, including the development of experimental or commercial systems. Surveys of important recent research results and directions are also welcome. Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

* Biomedical databases and data integration
* Biomedical image processing
* Bio-ontologies
* Comparative genomics
* Computational genetic epidemiology
* Computational proteomics
* Data mining and visualization
* Gene expression analysis
* Genome analysis
* High-performance bio-computing
* Molecular evolution and phylogenetics
* Molecular modeling and simulation
* Pattern discovery and classification
* Population genetics
* RNA and protein structure prediction
* Sequence assembly
* Software tools and applications
* Systems biology

ISBRA proceedings will be published in Springer-Verlag's Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics series. Papers must be submitted electronically by following the instructions at http://www.easychair.org/ISBRA08 . Submissions must be formatted using the Springer LNCS style and must not exceed 12 pages in length. Simultaneous submission to journals or other conferences with published proceedings is not allowed. As in previous years, it is anticipated that a special issue of a major bioinformatics journal will be devoted to extended versions of best symposium papers.