The New York based Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) is a highly respected medical school.  It includes departments that specialize in stem cells, regenerative medicine, and dermatology.  Recently, I found out that the school is also home to the Rendl Lab, led by Dr. Michael Rendl (who seems to originate from Austria and has worked under the renowned Dr. Elaine Fuchs at her lab in the past).  Also see Dr. Michael Rendl’s bio on the Mount Sinai Hospital page.

It was quite surprising to me that the Rendl Lab places such a heavy emphasis on research related to the hair follicle, in particular, the dermal papilla cell.  Their ultimate goal is hair regeneration. In their own words, they wish to:

• Uncover how specialized Dermal Papilla (DP) cells act as instructive niche cells for hair follicle stem cells.
• Define how DP cells acquire the hair-inducing cell fate in the first place that sets them apart from regular skin fibroblasts.

On the Rendl Lab’s publications page, they allow anyone to access pdf versions of their articles, which is a much appreciated rarity in the medical research profession.  The lab’s research page has some interesting diagrams pertaining to dermal papilla cells.

The Rendl Lab has now been added to the world map of key hair loss research centers.