Partners from the DCM-NEXT consortium met in Madrid on 12-13 February as part of the annual in-person meeting. This even brought together researchers from 7 teams across 5 EU countries, working together to decipher risk factors and identify therapeutic targets for DCM. We thank our colleagues from CNIC for hosting us, the patient organizations SAMS Asociacion and LMNA Cardiac for their contributions, and our advisory board members Eva van Rooij and Stuart Cook for their support.