The 4^th International Conference on Health Informatics (HEALTHINF2011) was held from the 26^th to the 29^th of January in Rome. The Health Informatics track was part of the joint initiative called BIOSTEC: The International Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies. Topics discussed during this joint conference were wide-ranging; including applications of information systems, artificial intelligence, signal processing, electronics and engineering tools. Health Informatics, as well, had a broad range of topics: Personal Health Records, Design of Decision Support Systems, Market Places for Health Applications, Social Network Analysis of Physicians, Authentication and Security were just a few of there presentations I attended. Despite the variation of topics there were still a couple of researchers that presented security-related topics. It was interesting to see that other countries face similar challenges in the information security discipline. 

Our presentation was scheduled at the end of the day and, although the audience was tired and hungry, Marco and I were happy to present. (I still have to give Marco some credits for his enthusiastic and almost mind-blowing opening of my presentation). The conference pointed out to be an excellent setting to exchange out ideas, discuss research methods and, of course, socialize in the center of Rome. On a more general note I can say that a conference visit does broaden the mind. Especially for enthusiastic M.Sc or fresh Ph.D. students it is a great opportunity to map out the terrain and to become even more enthusiastic about your research.