eric olson has dedicated his career to deciphering the mechanisms that control development and disease of the heart, cardiovascular system and skeletal muscle tissue. he and his colleagues discovered many of the key transcription factors and mechanisms responsible for cardiac gene regulation and formation of the heart and other muscles. his work provided a genetic blueprint for tissue formation and unveiled the molecular underpinnings of congenital and acquired diseases of the heart. olson also discovered epigenetic mechanisms and micrornas as regulators of muscle development and disease.