Molecular cardiology is an area of cardiovascular medicine that aims to apply molecular biological techniques for the mechanistic investigation, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, the number one cause of death worldwide. Molecular cardiology has changed conceptual thinking of cardiovascular development, disease causation and disease pathogenesis. With the dawn of the era of molecular cardiology and the related remarkable advances that have taken place in the discipline, there is an awakened hope that fundamental understanding of biological processes may eventually lead to new avenues and dramatic improvements in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of coronary heart disease, heart failure, disorders of cardiac development and cardiac arrhythmias. The need of the hour is to develop programs which can accelerate the movement of laboratory discoveries to the bedside of patients with heart diseases.

The proposed Indo US workshop is an endeavor to identify advances in concepts on disease mechanisms which can be investigated through epidemiological and clinical studies for defining novel strategies for prevention, early diagnosis, prognostication and treatment of common cardiovascular diseases. The three day meeting which brings together an outstanding panel of experts in molecular cardiology and clinical cardiology is expected to formulate new strategic approaches to translate recent advances in molecular cardiology for clinical use and benefit for patients with cardiovascular diseases. We also envisage that the interaction among Indian and American cardiologists, scientists and researchers from academic institutions as well as Indian industry could result in sustained linkages as the symposium is designed around themes of mutual interest which have potential for generating follow-up activities.