Significant advances in recent years in mechanistic understanding of cardiac development, function, and degeneration have stimulated interest in identifying novel therapeutic agents that may help treat children and adult patients with cardiovascular diseases. However, therapies developed in cell and animal models rarely translate well to human patients. The goals of this conference are to advance our understanding of heart formation and homeostatic function and how derangement in these processes lead to diseases and organ dysfunction. Because human cardiovascular tissue is difficult to obtain for experimental perturbation this conference will address the use of a spectrum of cells and engineered tissue models as well as small and large animal models of disease. We anticipate that bringing together scientists with diverse research backgrounds who employ different tools and technologies to address mechanisms of cardiomyocyte and vascular dysfunction will result in new approaches to uncovering cardiovascular biology. Presentations will showcase innovative, molecularly targeted, strategies to treat both rare and common cardiovascular diseases.