The SYMBIOmatics Specific Support Action (SSA) is an information gathering and dissemination activity that seeks to identify synergies between the bioinformatics and the medical informatics domain to improve collaborative progress between both domains (ref. to http://www.symbiomatics.org). As part of the project experts in both research fields will be identified and approached through a survey. To provide input to the survey, the scientific literature was analysed to extract topics relevant to both medical informatics and bioinformatics.