Ray E. Hershberger, MD, is Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Human Genetics in the Department of Internal Medicine at the Ohio State University College of Medicine, in Columbus, Ohio, USA. As a cardiologist sub-specialty board certified in advanced heart failure and cardiac transplantation, Dr Hershberger is also jointly appointed in the OSU Cardiovascular Division. Prior to his role at Ohio State University Dr Hershberger directed advanced heart failure cardiac transplantation programs at the Oregon Health & Science University and the University of Miami. Dr Hershberger completed training in cardiovascular disease and heart failure and cardiac transplantation at the University of Utah. Since moving to Ohio State, his clinical practice has been devoted largely to cardiovascular genetic and genomic medicine. Dr. Hershberger’s principal research focus has been to discover the genetic basis of dilated cardiomyopathy and translate those findings into the practice of cardiovascular medicine. This work has been funded by National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health nearly continuously since 1998, and he has authored numerous scientific articles, reviews and guideline statements for the field. He now leads the DCM Consortium, a multisite investigative group, to test the hypotheses that most of DCM without known cause has a genetic basis. More recent studies focus on the relevance of these findings to identify, treat and prevent DCM in family members of patients with DCM.