Richard Harvey is a pioneer of the molecular era of cardiac development. His discovery of homeodomain transcription factor Nkx2-5 overturned two established paradigms - that the hearts of vertebrates and invertebrates are the products of convergent evolution, and that heart chambers are formed from anatomical segments. He documented the role of transcription factors Foxh1 and Tbx20 in chamber formation, and discovered a novel Nkx2-5-independent pathway of cardiac myogenesis. He was the first to explore the complex genetic basis of common congenital heart disease and is applying the developmental paradigm to analysis of cardiac stem cells that have enormous therapeutic potential.