Heart failure is a leading public health problem and despite significant breakthroughs in the field of cardiovascular medicine, the fundamental mechanisms responsible for the development and progression of heart failure have not yet been fully elucidated. Therefore, the identification of new pathophysiological pathways may lead to the discovery of novel markers and/or therapeutic targets that could improve patient outcome. To this end in our research group we take advantage of RNA sequencing, and other discovery tools, to help identify novel cardiovascular disease associated genes. Discovery is then followed by in vitro studies, working with primary neonatal rat ventricular myocytes and human stem cell derived cardiomyocytes, to help understand the role of these genes in the heart. Finally animal models are designed to translate the effects of the putative target genes into a more physiological environment.