ICBO 2026 Call For Papers

[Asiyah Yu Lin]

Dear colleagues.

The 17th International Conference on Biological and Biomedical Ontology (ICBO) will take place July 15–17, 2026 at the Washington Hilton, Washington DC, co-located with ISMB 2026 (with online participation available). https://icbo-conference.github.io/icbo2026/ 

Theme: Semantic Awareness in the Age of Generative AI
As Generative AI reshapes biomedical research and knowledge integration, ICBO 2026 focuses on the critical role of ontologies and semantic technologies — including formally grounded knowledge graphs — in building trustworthy, interpretable, and AI-ready ecosystems. GenAI accelerates what we do, but it does not replace formal semantics, logical consistency, or community-curated knowledge structures.

Topics include:

• Ontological foundations for trustworthy AI

• Semantic modeling and bounding of GenAI

• AI-readiness and semantic infrastructure

• FAIR principles in the era of GenAI

• Practical and theoretical perspectives

Domains of interest:

• Biomedical and biological research

• Clinical and public health data integration

• Physical and mental wellness & behavioral science

• Environmental health, food systems & sustainability

• Regulatory science and policy-making

Key deadlines:

• Workshops & tutorials – March 15, 2026

• Direct-to-journal – April 15, 2026

• Main papers – May 1, 2026

• Posters & demos – June 1, 2026

https://icbo-conference.github.io/icbo2026/ 
We love to see you in DC this summer!

Regards,

Asiyah Yu Lin 

On behalf of the ICBO 2026 Organizing Committee

[Asiyah Yu Lin]

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce that the ICBO 2026 website has been updated with the accepted conference presentations, keynote speaker, and invited speakers. We invite you to visit the website (https://icbo-conference.github.io/icbo2026/) and explore the exciting program that is taking shape for ICBO 2026.

A few important reminders:

Registration

• The ICBO-only early-bird registration deadline has been extended until tomorrow June 5, 2026 at 11:59 PM (Anywhere on Earth, AoE). If you are planning to attend ICBO, please take advantage of the discounted registration rate.
• If you are also planning to attend ISMB 2026, we encourage you to register using the ICBO + ISMB combo option, which adds only $75 to the ISMB registration fee and provides access to the full ICBO program.

Poster Submissions

• The poster submission deadline has been extended to June 12, 2026.
• We encourage researchers, practitioners, students, and industry participants to take advantage of this opportunity to present their work and engage with the ICBO community.

We look forward to welcoming you to ICBO 2026, July 15–17, 2026, in Washington, DC and online.

Best regards,

ICBO 2026 Organizing Committee