The European Societies for Arti cial Intelligence in Medicine (AIME) and M- ical Decision Making (ESMDM) were both established in 1986.A major activity of both these societies has been a series of international conferences, held bi- nially over the last 13 years. In the year 1999 the two societies organized a joint conference for the r st time. It took place from June 20{24th, 1999 in Aalborg, Denmark. This Joint European Conference on Arti cial Intelligence in Medicine and Medical Decision Making (AIMDM 99)" was the seventh conference for each of thetwosocieties.ThisconferencefollowstheAIMEconferencesheldinMarseilles (1987), London (1989), Maastricht (1991), Munich (1993), Pavia (1995), and Grenoble(1997).PreviousESMDMconferenceshavebeenheldinLeiden(1986), Copenhagen (1988), Glasgow (1990), Marburg (1992), Lille (1994), and Torino (1996). The AIMDM conference is the major forum for the presentation and d- cussion of new ideas in the areas of Arti cial Intelligence and Medical Decision Making in Medicine. This ful lls the aims of both societies. The aims of AIME are to foster fundamental and applied researchin the applicationof Arti cial - telligence (AI) techniques to medicalcareandmedicalresearch,andto providea forum for reporting signi cant results achieved. ESMDM s aims are to promote research and training in medical decision-making, and to provide a forum for circulating ideas and programs of related interest. In the AIMDM 99 conference announcement, authors were encouraged to submit original contributions to the development of theory, techniques, and - plications of both AI in medicine (AIM) and medical decision making (MDM).