The heart is the first organ to form in the embryo, and its development and function is essential for life. Defects in heart formation result in congenital heart disease, which affects at least 1% of live births. The lessons learned from heart development are also critical for the development of strategies aimed at regenerating diseased adult hearts. This meeting will address advances in our understanding of cellular and molecular mechanisms of heart development, with a view toward congenital heart disease and cardiac regeneration. It will bring together developmental biologists, cardiologists, geneticists and basic scientists from many disciplines to discuss current findings and to promote multi-disciplinary collaborations. The pairing with the Keystone Symposia meeting on “RNA-Based Approaches in Cardiovascular Disease” presents an opportunity to bridge exciting fields in cardiovascular biology.