— Yet another interesting conference will take place in Monaco from March 31-April 2 (h/t “Ben” yet again). It is the 20th edition of the Aesthetic & Anti-Aging Medicine World Congress.

Among the highlights (see full abstract here) will include:

• An update from HairClone’s Dr. Paul Kemp.
• Several presentations on exosomes for hair growth.
• Several new reports of PRP reducing hair loss.
• An interesting report form Dr. Pietro Gentile where he analyzes the benefits of hair follicle mesenchymal stem cell (HF-MSC) injections.
• An update on ARTAS robotic hair transplants.

AAD 2022: Key Hair Loss Related Updates

— Update from AAD2022.

— Baricitinib JAK inhibitor leads to significant hair regrowth in Alopecia Areata patients. Dr. Brett King video. Amazing before and after photos, but we have seen similar results from other JAK inhibitors in the past.

— At AAD2022, Alma launched an ultrasound based laser system called Alma TED™. It benefits hair growth via improving blood flow. Also see my recent post on sound therapy for hair growth. Some before and after photos here.

— Update from the 2022 Oscars, where a hair loss issue leads to violence.

Introduction

The 2022 American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Annual Meeting will run from March 25, 2022-March 29, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. After being cancelled in 2020, this time it is an in-person event.

The AAD was founded in 1938 and currently counts most practicing dermatologists in the United States as members. In the past, I wrote about the 2016 AAD annual meeting and the 2018 AAD annual meeting. I also covered the lesser known Society for Investigative Dermatology (SID) conferences several times.

Make sure to follow on Twitter the AADmember account and the AADskin account for more information. #AAD2022.

2022 AAD Meeting Hair Loss Sessions

Unlike conferences focused solely on hair loss (e.g., WCHR, ISHRS, EHRS and AHRS), the AAD meetings include a wide range of dermatological conditions. Skin issues are of foremost importance.

Nevertheless, hair related sessions and posters (18 pages) are still numerous. The AAD hair loss sessions tend to focus more on existing treatments and recent developments and improvements in technology. You do not see much on long-term future developments.

Among the interesting presentations this time around include:

• Topical Finasteride and Low-Dose Oral Minoxidil presentations. See here.
• Photobiomodulation (PBM) therapy (aka low-level laser treatment) for hair growth. The highly respected laser pioneer Dr. Rox Anderson is one of the presenters.
• The importance of topical therapies in treating androgenetic alopecia (AGA).
• As always, much needed coverage of subjects that I largely neglect on this blog, including: alopecia areata (AA) and JAK inhibitors; central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (CCCA); frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA); telogen effluvium; and women’s hair loss (including from PCOS).

Disclosures and Corporate Affiliations

What I always find interesting in these conferences is the company affiliation disclosures. In some cases, hair loss product vendors provide fees to the presenters. In other cases, research funding and grants. And in other case, I assume just advisory support. Some of the “type of relationship” acronyms in the disclosure statements are not defined.

• It is great to see Cassiopea so active. I still have hopes that Breezula will be at least as good as Minoxidil, while targeting an entirely different pathway.
• Other hair loss companies that I have covered that are also mentioned as sponsors/funders/affiliates include AbbVie; Allergan; Almirall; Applied Biology; Follica and L’Oréal.
• I find it interesting that low-level laser device manufacturers such as Capillus, HairMax LaserComb and Theradome are associated with so many of the researchers.
• A number of smaller companies that I have discussed on this blog seem to be involved with a number of researchers. The most surprising of these is DS Laboratories.
• The disclosure list of some of the scientists presenting is unbelievably lengthy. It is worth checking out Dr. Neil Saddick and Dr. Adelaide Hebert. Surprisingly, Dr. Ken Washenik only shows two companies (Cassiopea and Follica) in his disclosure list.