Interview Questions for Dr. Heather Christofk and Dr. William Lowry

A little over a month ago, a new groundbreaking study came out of UCLA that found that increasing lactate production in mice via the use of two different topical drugs led to increased hair growth both times (through hair stem cell activation). As I detailed in my post on that discovery, the two drugs are known as RCGD423 and UK5099. Both drugs act via entirely different mechanisms, and UCLA has filed separate patents for the use of each for hair growth purposes.

The scientists that led this research were Dr. Heather Christofk and Dr. William Lowry. Both run their own labs at UCLA, and the latter is listed as “post-doc” with the famous hair researcher Dr. Elaine Fuchs. Several weeks ago, a reader who wants to be known as “HLprevention” got in touch with Dr. Christofk, and then sent me her e-mail address and told me to get in touch with her. He thought that she would be willing to participate in an interview. I did as suggested, and Dr. Christofk has agreed to answer reader questions.

Please only post relevant questions, thoughts and concerns in this post, and continue to post unrelated comments in the last post.

UCLA has now been added to the list of research centers around the world working on a hair loss cure.

32 thoughts on “Interview Questions for Dr. Heather Christofk and Dr. William Lowry”

  1. With all due respect, I’m someone with a concern for pharma practices when it comes to pricing.

    -Are you interested in making the end product affordable?
    -Have you considered using a minimum price and adding optional pay more?

    As a social experiment, I could imagine people paying more than asked for a treatment, especially if those paying were considering transplants and other painful procedures.

    1. As hair loss treatments are not covered by insurance, they have to make it affordable if they want to sell it. Think pre-generic minoxidil or finasteride, not transplants (which are labor-intensive and compete with insurance-covered treatments for doctors’ time).

  2. -To what degree must lactate be elevated to induce a response by the stem cell population? Is it a physiologically reachable level? If so, under which conditions?

    -Would certain exercises or fasting ketosis be able to increase lactate to anywhere close to an effective range?

    Human brain beta-hydroxybutyrate and lactate increase in fasting-induced ketosis.
    Pan JW, et al. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2000.

    -Theoretically, could something like direct diluted topical lactate salt be effective?

    1. this. especially the exercise part. Basically, are there lifestyle changes we could make to increase the lactate to a good range?

  3. What led them to believe that lactate might lead to increased hair growth? How did they discover the drugs RCGD423 and UK5099 seemingly simultaneously with the lactate revelation? Are these drugs/molecules naturally occurring in the body or synthetic? Is there any known possible safety issues with these drugs based on their mechanism of action? What is the anticipated time frame before they would be able to perform the initial clinical trial and know if either drug works in humans?

    1. Admin, You might also ask if they are planning to conduct further research or license the rights to a third party and, if so, is she at liberty to tell us who.

  4. ● How did the story begin?
    ● What is the relationship between RCGD423 and UK5099 and the latest new studies on baldness such as crox20, pgd2, fgf9, jak and dht?
    ● Is the effect of the drugs on the gray as well?
    ● When will the two drugs be offered to the FDA and are on the market?
    ● Activation of lactate through the new drugs / impressive
    ● Is it currently possible to use cream containing lactic acid until completion of the study or through food?

  5. 1. Photo proof in humans
    2. Release date
    3. Price

    Their not questions but everyone here ultimately only cares about the real big 3

  6. Please expand on the decisions behind the cancellation of so many of the patent claims between the filing of patents WO2013169956 A2 and US20160193364 A1 ?

  7. Can this grow thick terminal hair all over the scalp. Front,hairline , top and crown? We know all treatments that work on mice don’t necessarily work on humans. Have you tried this on humans?

  8. Are you aware of any available products that may increase lactate production which could potentially increase hair growth or decrease hair loss?

  9. Another question: Are there concerns about possible cancer inducing implications of increasing lactate production? There seems to be a lot of research in the area of lactate production and cancer. I was researching the molecules used in the study and, at least for UK5099, this was developed by Pfizer for apoptosis & cell cycle research……….which I believe is for the most part, cancer research. As a layman in this area, I would be curious as to their comfort level regarding safety and what they base this on.

  10. I watched Dr. William Lowry give a presentation on stem cell research for hair loss, at a dermatology conference in Feb. 2018. I spoke with him after the presentation. He is a very intelligent and personable researcher at UCLA. He said his processes are to use stem cells, rather than just medications, to promote hair follicle growth and regeneration. A big hurdle of him and most researchers is getting adequate funding to proceed.

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