Last year, I wrote a post about the 9th Congress for Hair Research that will take place in Miami, Florida this year from November 18-21. At the time, the website for this congress was already up, albeit a bit barren.  The most interesting thing that I saw and mentioned in last year’s blog post was the fact that the three people in charge of this conference were all women despite the fact that men suffer from hair loss far more frequently than women, especially when it comes to major (high norwood scale) hair loss.  In any event, it is no longer surprising for me to read about renowned female hair loss research scientists and I am grateful for each new one.

I am certain that this will be the most heavily attended Congress for Hair Research to date, just like the recent 23rd ISHRS Meeting was the most heavily attended one to date.  Worldwide hair transplant procedure totals have also been breaking new records every year recently as middle class populations with expendable incomes increase (and as hair loss rates in general also increase in my as yet unproven opinion).

Among the interesting things that I have seen on the current version of the Congress website include:

• The Final Program Book.  A must skim through.
• The theme/slogan of “Reflect, Rejuvenate, and REGENERATE.”   It is encouraging that they have capitalized the word “REGENERATE” and this hopefully portends favorably to the focus of the conference.
• While the topmost Platinum level sponsor (Women’s Rogaine) is a huge disappointment since they are not selling any new hair loss technology or product, it is encouraging that Samumed is a Silver level sponsor and Kythera Biopharmaceuticals is a Bronze level sponsor.  Proctor & Gamble is a Gold level sponsor and their bio seems to imply that they are there to primarily promote their shampoos (which are not even among the best hair loss shampoos in the world).
• Also encouraging that Shiseido and Kerastem are contributing sponsors.
• The number of hair loss researchers presenting at this Congress seems to be a record high, although this remains to be verified.
• A majority of the big name companies and researchers (Christiano, Cotsarelis, Garza, Jahoda, Tsuji and many more) are presenting at this Congress.
• The next 10th Congress for Hair Research will be in Japan, the current global epicenter of hair loss research and clinical trials due to that country’s favorable new laws.

There are way too many interesting presentations to list here separately.  Topics ranging from PGD2 inhibition to Wnt/β-catenin signaling to progenitor cells to wounding are all covered.  Cell based regenerative therapies are not surprisingly well covered.  There are a few presentations on JAK inhibitors and alopecia areata from new research centers.  I am also interested in the update on topical Finasteride product P-3074 as I would love to stop taking oral Finasteride next year.  An update on Samumed’s topical drug SM04554 is also something to look forward to.

WHICH PRESENTATIONS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO?