Intercontinental Meetings - International Congresses - World Congresses For Hair Research

The first Intercontinental Meeting of Hair Research Societies (IMHRS) was hosted by the European Hair Research Society, with Congress President, Dominique van Neste 1995 in Brussels, Belgium. There were five participating hair research societies including: European Hair Research Society (EHRS) (founded 1989), the American Hair Research Society [at the time was the North American Hair Research Society (NAHRS), founded 1989], the Society for Hair Science Research (SHSR) (Japan, founded 1993), Australasian Hair and Wool Research Society (AHWRS) (founded 1997), and Korean Hair Research Society (KHRS) (founded 1998). The clinical, basic and industry scientist-members of these organizations participated as lecturers and attendees. These fi ve societies rotated the responsibility to organize this world meeting which occurred approximately every three years. It was called the “IMHRS” for 4 meetings in years 1995, 1998, 2001, and 2004. The IMHRS in 1998 was hosted by the NAHRS and took place in Washington DC, USA, with Congress Presidents, Ulrike Lichti, Jerry Shapiro, and David Whiting. The 2001 IMHRS occurred in June 2001, in Tokyo, Japan, with Congress President, Hideoki Ogawa, via the SHSR. The 4th IMHRS was in Berlin, Germany, in June 2004, with Congress President, Ulrike Blume-Peytavi via the EHRS. In 2007 the world meeting was held in Vancouver, Canada, and the name of the meeting was slightly changed to, 5th International Congress of Hair Research. This meeting occurred in June 2007, with Congress President, Jerry Shapiro, via the NAHRS. The 2010 international meeting in Cairns, Australia, with Congress President, Rodney Sinclair of the AHWRS, was renamed the “6th World Congress for Hair Research (WCHR),” and from then congresses have been held more frequently.

Today

Participation in World Congress for Hair Research via abstract submission is now strongly encouraged to generate a more open forum for basic and clinical research and less reliance on invited speakers. Attendance is generally between 400-800 participants. There are numerous session topics including, but not limited to, Hair and Scalp Disorders and Treatments, Diagnosis of Diffi cult Cases, Histopathology, Stem Cells and Stem Cell Niches, Neogenesis and Tissue Engineering, Genetics, Hair Pigmentation, Endocrinology, Hair Restoration Surgery, Structure and Function of the Hair Shaft, Morphogenesis and Hair Cycling, Animal Models and Hair Diseases, Hair Care and Treatments, and Emerging Technologies and Therapies.

The COVID-19 pandemic beginning in 2020 forced new formats to meet and the IFHRS moved to video conferencing (Zoom) and more frequent meetings. The additional meetings resulted in several task forces and projects. It recognized the growing society membership with a further formalized rotation for World Congresses with Europe, the Americas and Asia rotating with a 4th “open” congress slot in the rotation. A biannual newsletter was launched and distributed to all member societies and is available online, with the first issue published in December 2020. The newsletter includes submissions from each society with news, meeting proceedings, and society and scientific updates NEWS.

Future

In-depth understanding of the mechanisms enabling hair follicle development, epithelial, melanocyte, and dermal stem cell survival, hair cycle regulation, cell kinetics, and immunological crosstalk to maintain the homeostasis of the hair follicle enhances the significance of hair research not limited to the management of intractable hair disorders. The hair follicle is regarded as one of the most ideal mini organs to tackle key biological questions in other organ systems. In view of conquering severe hair diseases, including primary scarring alopecia, alopecia areata universalis/totalis, and advanced male/female pattern baldness, the essential technical basis seems to be nearly established. Partial regeneration of hair follicle (-like) structures using human hair follicle stem/progenitor cells or induced pluripotent stem cells has been reported. The elucidation of IFN-gamma-IL15 axis in alopecia areata by genomics, bioinformatics, and pharmacological approaches has led to the discovery of JAK inhibitors as promising medications. The dissection of etiopathogenesis of lichen planopilaris adopting genetically engineered animal models has revealed the involvement of the PPAR-gamma pathway. Additional new insights into the pathophysiology of various hair loss conditions, for instance, a possible association between sunscreen and frontal fibrosing alopecia have been reported. The next 3 decades would be the term to bring what has been developed at bench to clinics. Prevailing recognition that treating hair diseases is time consuming, laborious, and less efficient will be abandoned. Advances in bioimaging, omics, and artificial intelligence technology should enable the assessment of the pathophysiology of individual patients, which should allow the optimization of treatment plans consisting of regenerative medicine and immunomodulation techniques. The future of hair research is full of hope. Most conditions that are currently unmanageable would become, at least, controllable. Perhaps, there will be a definitive solution for androgenetic alopecia and other major hair loss conditions before 2050, granted that current activities in basic and clinical hair research are sustained. The IFHRS will endeavour to achieve this forecast.