Ontological research and its applications to the biomedical domain

Abstract

Ontology is an area of philosophy “the science of what is, of the kinds and structures of objects, properties, events and relations in every area of reality” (Smith & Welty, 2001). In computer and information science ontology is used to represent the common understanding and concepts related to a specific domain. In this sense, an ontology includes a set of generic concepts as well as their definitions and relationships. The main purpose of using an ontology is to present the shared view of the knowledge of a domain. Other advantages of ontologies are that they provide computer systems with a way to specify concepts, allow interoperability and reusability, and ultimately represent a way to relate the concepts expressed in our computer information systems with the real objects that they represent. This panel will present a general overview of the current issues on ontological research its applications in biomedicine. The panel includes presentations on the state‐of‐the‐art in ontology research as well as several applications in the biomedical domain.