Hellouser at Hair Congress 2015 in Miami - General Discussion

hellouser

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Well guys, I made it to Miami! This thread will now be dedicated to all news and discussions about the congress itself.

First pic of unofficial congress papers (printed them at work in advance to go over everything in the plane)

x514G9w.jpg


Here's a glimpse of my view from my hotel:

IsMzYQa.jpg


It's beautiful weather here, much better than it was in Canada anyway, lol. It's 2:30pm right now, and I'll be leaving to check out the area, walk to the Congress locale just to see how long it takes me to get there as well as scope a good spot to conduct interviews with researchers.

Again, thanks everyone for all the help, questions submitted, donations, support and kind words.

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Here's my itinerary for the presentations I'll be attending:

November 18 (Wednesday)
1pm - 4:30pm
Presenters Hang their Posters - Not sure if poster presenters will be available for a chat
5:00pm - 5:25pm
Opening Ceremony w/ Christiano, Bergfeld & Hordinsky (Co-Chairs)


November 19 (Thursday)
7:30am - 8:45am
Posters with Researchers (Even Numbers)
7:30am - 9:00pm
Poster Viewing (Find out when poster presenters will be on site)
11:30am - 11:32
Moderator Introductions - Maria Hordinsky
11:32am - 11:44am
Targeting Immune Cells in AA - Angela Christiano
2:32 - 2:56
B-Catening Signaling marks self renewing stem cells in multiple epithelial tissues - Sara Millar
2:56 - 3:16
Regeneration of Skin Appendages - Cheng Ming Chuong <-- May need to duck early from this to meet with Replicel
3:15pm - 3:45pm
Replicel Interview
3:45pm - 3:57pm
Inducing Hair Follicle Organogenesis with Defined Protein Factors - Sung-Jan Lin <-- I may miss the beginning of this, might still be with Replicel
4:15pm
Interview with Dr. Ken Washenik from Kerastem (same doctor from Aderans)


November 20 (Friday)
7:30am - 8:45am
Posters with Researchers (Odd Numbers)
9:30 - 11:00am
Hormones, Hair Growth and Pattern Hair Loss. Viewing everything.
11:30 - 1:00pm
Stem Cells and Stem Cell niches. Viewing everything.
2:30 - 4pm
Emerging Technologies and Therapies. Viewing everything. (Ken Washenik, Tsuji, Beren Atac, etc.)

November 21 (Saturday)
8:00 - 9:00am
Coffee With Experts - Asking Questions All Around
Versailles; Ken Washenik, Wilma Bergfeld, Cotsarelis, Jahoda, Christiano
9:15am - TBD
Q&A Meeting with Dr. Gail Naughton from Histogen
11:30 - 1pm
Clinical Trials Presentations. Viewing Everything (Replicel, Histogen and Samumed)
1pm - 2:30pm
New Topics Presenations. Viewing Everything (Kevin McElwee included)
Time TBD (likely after 2:30pm)
Dr. Beren Atac and Dr. Gerd Lindner, members of Dr. Lauster's team.

I'll try to get in touch with Dr. Wilma Bergfeld to talk about Samumed, Dr. Cotsarelis to talk about Follica and Ken Washenik to talk about Kerastem.

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Post your questions!

Last year we collected questions from forum members and had Desmond84 ask the researchers. Please state your question and to whom the question is for. I'll need these by Nov. 16th at the latest so I can make a print out and have on hand. I won't have access to a printer after that. I'll be updating this thread with a complete list of questions for the researchers. I'll start:

Dr. Beren Atac / Dr. Gerd Lindner:

- There has been rumour that your team was searching for funding for clinical trials. Can you comment on this and are there still plans for clinical trials for the creation of hair follicles for the treatment of Androgenic Alopecia?
- Can the dermal papilla's created in the lab have a chance to grow fully terminal hairs if injected/implanted into the scalp? Are CD200, CD34, PGE2 etc. taken into account when tested in the lab?
- Could the multiplied cells in the lab turn into full terminal hair growing follicles if injected into the scalp or do the cells need to turn into follicles in the lab first?
- We've read that currently you are able to only generate microfollicles. Have 'full sized' follicles been attempted or successfully been created? If not, what do you think could be the missing link?
- If your work goes into clinical trials, would you consider running trials in Japan with regards to their new regulations for stem cell based trials?

Dr. George Cotsarelis:
- How do you plan on using FGF-9 with Follica's method?
- Would Follicept's vehicle allow you to bypass injections of FGF-9?
- Does the introduction of FGF-9 require Follica to start the trials all over again?
- Does FGF-9 on it's own create follicles or are the growth factors from wounding or other agents still necessary for follicle formation?
- Has the FGF-9 method been tried in humans?
- Has Follica been able to grow thick terminal hair in human scalp clinical trials?
- How do you feel about the 21st Century Act and will it benefit the release of Follica's treatment or Kythera's setipiprant?
- What levels of PGD2 are present in early Androgenetic Alopecia vs. late Androgenetic Alopecia?
- Setipiprant was used with VERY high amounts (up to 1000mg) for use against Asthma. Will it be this much for Androgenetic Alopecia? How much will be used?
- Would a topical formula be more effective or does Setipiprant have to be taken orally?

Dr. Angela Christiano:
- Dr. Claire Higgins recently mentioned that the dermal papilla has to be put into the dermas to work and there are some rollers with spikes being developed to do that. Can you comment on this?
- New York Times posted an article about you starting a company called Rapunzel. Can you tell us more about it?
- Are there any similarities in FPB to male pattern baldness? As in, elevated levels of PGD2 or something else?
- Can you comment about your findings with 3D Dermal Papilla cells you were using in mice for human hair? Could this have any bearing with Rapunzel?

Dr. Wilma Bergfeld:
- Can you tell us more about Samumed's phase 2B trial and why it was needed?
- Are you aware of the 21st century act and do you feel it will benefit Samumed in a faster release? Other thoughts?

Dr. Gail Naughton:
- How far are you in clinical trials for Histogen's HSC complex?
- Does HSC have any relation to hypoxia?
- Other than capital/money, what in your view is the biggest obstacle in getting your HSC treatment to the market? There has been speculation that there are problems with controlling cell treatments to create "good" cells vs. "bad" cells.
- What do you say to people who say that even hair that is regrown through HSC will still be susceptible to DHT/PGD2 production?
- Have you seen any correlation or is there any reason to believe that this treatment is more effective on younger patients than older patients? Or vice versa?
- We know that CD34 and CD200 progenitor cells are lacking greatly and may be the missing link for proper terminal hair growth. Does HSC increase the count of these cells? If so, could a constant upregulation of these cells in thinning/bald areas bring back follicles to their full size?
- Is there a rough estimate of how much the procedure will cost per injection?
- Can patients chose how often they receive injections?
- When will HSC be available to consumers?
- What exactly is HSC made of? Some people are using general terms like 'growth factors' but... what are they?
- When Histogen does become available, where will it be available?
- Could a treatment from Replicel (DSC cell injections) benefit from Histogen (ie; finasteride supplemented by minoxidil gives great synergy)

Dr. Rolf Hoffmann:
- A recent article claimed shisheido will release a cure in 2018, can you comment on this? Furthermore the article states: "First medical staff will take some cells to reprogram as induced pluripotent stem cells, the scientific breakthrough that won Shinya Yamanaka the Nobel Prize and a fancy new washing machine back in 2012. At the moment it seems fibroblasts are the go-to ones for the job. These can be found in joints and scar tissue. That sounds a wee bit painful but there is already research into alternative methods such as getting them from urine.Then doctors will remove a piece of your scalp a few millimeters in diameter and just as deep as your roots. This will yield a small sample of the cells which trigger hair growth." Is this the method bring pursued by shiehido? Or is it just the replicel technology?
- What is the status of Replicel's clinical trials?
- When will trials start?
- What is the status of Shiseido's clinical trials using Replicel's technology?
- Any details on the Shiseido trials (sample size, repeat injections, dosage, etc).
- I recall Mr. Hall during his interview with Spencer from Bald Truth Talk stating that Phase II would be dosing down. Was this a poor choice of words, or are they using a lower dosage (cells/injection)? My assumption is that the cells are losing their inductive properties, in which case fewer (more potent) may be better
-
In their original study with mice (pg 1269) they found injecting the cell associated with wounding yielded superior results. Have they considered wounding with humans
-
Has Shiseido enhanced or modified the procedure to their knowledge? I believe the use of iPS cells was a mistranslation but otherwise

Dr. Ken Washenik
- Can you tell us how Kerastem works?
- How far into the clinical trials is Kerastem?
- When will Kerastem be available for patients?
- The website lists several global locations. Where will the procedure be done?
- Some of our readers believe that the layer of fat tissue in thinning scalp is too low in quantity. Does Kerastem increase the fat count? Bald areas seem to have very thin scalp/skin.
- How often would injections need to be done to maintain hair?
- There have been other clinics offering treatments similar to Kerastem, ones with ADSC as well as Prostemics which offers AAPE. How does Kerastem's product differ?
- What will the dosage be per injection? How much of the fat will be used?
- Will the injections be used in a solution like saline?

General Questions For Everyone:
- Will treatments for men also benefit women diagnosed with Androgenetic Alopecia?

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EvilLocks

Senior Member
Reaction score
5,530
Well guys, I made it to Miami! This thread will now be dedicated to all news and discussions about the congress itself.

First pic of unofficial congress papers (printed them at work in advance to go over everything in the plane)

x514G9w.jpg


Here's a glimpse of my view from my hotel:

IsMzYQa.jpg


It's beautiful weather here, much better than it was in Canada anyway, lol. It's 2:30pm right now, and I'll be leaving to check out the area, walk to the Congress locale just to see how long it takes me to get there as well as scope a good spot to conduct interviews with researchers.

Again, thanks everyone for all the help, questions submitted, donations, support and kind words.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's my itinerary for the presentations I'll be attending:

November 18 (Wednesday)
1pm - 4:30pm
Presenters Hang their Posters - Not sure if poster presenters will be available for a chat
5:00pm - 5:25pm
Opening Ceremony w/ Christiano, Bergfeld & Hordinsky (Co-Chairs)


November 19 (Thursday)
7:30am - 8:45am
Posters with Researchers (Even Numbers)
7:30am - 9:00pm
Poster Viewing (Find out when poster presenters will be on site)
11:30am - 11:32
Moderator Introductions - Maria Hordinsky
11:32am - 11:44am
Targeting Immune Cells in AA - Angela Christiano
2:32 - 2:56
B-Catening Signaling marks self renewing stem cells in multiple epithelial tissues - Sara Millar
2:56 - 3:16
Regeneration of Skin Appendages - Cheng Ming Chuong <-- May need to duck early from this to meet with Replicel
3:15pm - 3:45pm
Replicel Interview
3:45pm - 3:57pm
Inducing Hair Follicle Organogenesis with Defined Protein Factors - Sung-Jan Lin <-- I may miss the beginning of this, might still be with Replicel


November 20 (Friday)
7:30am - 8:45am
Posters with Researchers (Odd Numbers)
9:30 - 11:00am
Hormones, Hair Growth and Pattern Hair Loss. Viewing everything.
11:30 - 1:00pm
Stem Cells and Stem Cell niches. Viewing everything.
2:30 - 4pm
Emerging Technologies and Therapies. Viewing everything. (Ken Washenik, Tsuji, Beren Atac, etc.)

November 21 (Saturday)
8:00 - 9:00am
Coffee With Experts - Asking Questions All Around
Versailles; Ken Washenik, Wilma Bergfeld, Cotsarelis, Jahoda, Christiano
9:15am - TBD
Q&A Meeting with Dr. Gail Naughton from Histogen
11:30 - 1pm
Clinical Trials Presentations. Viewing Everything (Replicel, Histogen and Samumed)
1pm - 2:30pm
New Topics Presenations. Viewing Everything (Kevin McElwee included)
Time TBD (likely after 2:30pm)
Dr. Beren Atac and Dr. Gerd Lindner, members of Dr. Lauster's team.

I'll try to get in touch with Dr. Wilma Bergfeld to talk about Samumed, Dr. Cotsarelis to talk about Follica and Ken Washenik to talk about Kerastem.

Good luck hellouser! I'm excited to hear what comes out of this congress!
 

bluemoon1212

Established Member
Reaction score
159
Bring back the torso of a Haitian prostitute for ol' Blue. This dutasteride in my cauldron needs some extra zing and I think that will do the.... Trick?... You can use that one as an icebreaker at the congress as long as you give me credit. ;)
 

farkhairloss

Established Member
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37
Hellouser i noticed over at B TT some guys were keen for you to attend this presentation, if you can fit it in your schedule?

CRTH2/ PTGDR2 Antagonists Reverse the Hair Growth Inhibition Caused by Elevated PGCRTH2/ PTGDR2 Antagonists Reverse the Hair Growth Inhibition Caused by Elevated
PGD2 Level
Ying Zheng, PhD

- - - Updated - - -

Also moderators some new members are having trouble activating there account. Is there an issue with something?
 

hellouser

Senior Member
My Regimen
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2,634
Hellouser i noticed over at B TT some guys were keen for you to attend this presentation, if you can fit it in your schedule?

CRTH2/ PTGDR2 Antagonists Reverse the Hair Growth Inhibition Caused by Elevated PGCRTH2/ PTGDR2 Antagonists Reverse the Hair Growth Inhibition Caused by Elevated
PGD2 Level
Ying Zheng, PhD

- - - Updated - - -

Also moderators some new members are having trouble activating there account. Is there an issue with something?

Yep, I'll be at that presentation. In regards to RECENT registrations on HairLossTalk.com, they should have received a verification link in their email. Once clicked and all, their accounts should be good to go.

- - - Updated - - -

I went to check out the hotel yesterday, and the lobby lounge was quite loud. Lot's of people and some music from the hotel's speakers. There was some kind of trade show happening as well though. Hopefully it's not like that for the Hair Congress. Here's a shot I took;

DUjQc5I.jpg


The presentations will be made in two rooms found on the second floor in the hotel, Trianon and Versailles (both next to eachother). Both these rooms are MASSIVE and will easily hold a few hundred people. It looks like there's going to be a big turnout with lot's of seating. I did some test recordings with a voice recorded I bought, looking for a good spot to conduct interviews with the Replicel team, Dr. Gail Naughton and Dr. Lauster's team. I'll need to hold the microphone close to them when speaking to make sure their voices are clear, if not, I'd need a pretty quiet spot, there's a ton of ambient noise.

Today will be the first day of the congress. It's more or less an intro with some opening remarks, but I'll be on site anyway. Opening ceremony is at 5pm, I'll probably just go in and see who's who. There's a welcome reception and live poster viewing from 6:30pm - 8pm. I'll attend that and HOPEFULLY be able to speak to Dr. Christiano, Dr. Bergfeld (Samumed), Dr. Cotsarelis (Follica) and Dr. Ken Washenik (Kerastem).
 

Joan

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Hellouser, whether or not you bring us any encouraging news, I can't thank you enough for all your personal time you have dedicated to preparing for and attending this congress. To say I'm proud to have you representing us is an understatement. You are the best person for the job.
 

EvilLocks

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Hellouser, whether or not you bring us any encouraging news, I can't thank you enough for all your personal time you have dedicated to preparing for and attending this congress. To say I'm proud to have you representing us is an understatement. You are the best person for the job.

Completely agree, Joan. To think that the women on her alopecia would blow this off so easily disgusts me. How one can fail to see the importance of this cause is beyond me. Hellouser is doing an amazing job so far and I'm sure he will keep it up. Wether or not he comes back with good news I'm glad I donated towards this cause. In my opinion those money were well-spent.
 

hellouser

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EvilLocks, Joan and DoctorHouse; thank you! I slept for 11 hours today, I was so tired yesterday after the flight and scoping the area here. I only slept for 30 minutes before I had to go to the airport (really early flight). In a couple hours I'm heading out to get myself registered at the congress and get all my content, apparently they're handing out some other info a full printed copy of the program. At 5pm today there is an opening ceremony, which I will attend for about 30 minutes. After that there is a talk about lasers... I won't be attending that. At 6:30 I'll return to the congress for the open exhibitors/posters meet up. Essentially a meet and greet mingle.

Also, I've been in correspondence with Dr. Gail Naughton from Histogen and we are definitenly set to go for an interview at 9:15am on Saturday morning! EvilLocks and Joan, if either of you have any questions in regards to the science, this is your chance, and a particularly relevant one because Histogen's HSC looks to work quite well from women. Dr. Naughton has been kind enough to even send me her presentation in advance (I will ask if I can share this later on), so she seems to be pretty open about her work, which is great!

I got in touch with Dr. Takashi Tsuji as well. However, I believe a Q&A with him will prove to be difficult due to the language barrier; I sent him an email asking for a brief meeting took things, from what I believe, the wrong way. So, I'll leave it at that. Perhaps if I see him in person and introduce myself it will help things.

Also, just now I received a text message confirming another confirmed interview with Kerastem's Dr. Ken Washenik! I'll be meeting with him tomorrow at 4:15pm. Any questions for him, please post quickly! I'm definitely going to inquire about what happened to Aderans though.
 

cratusg

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EvilLocks, Joan and DoctorHouse; thank you! I slept for 11 hours today, I was so tired yesterday after the flight and scoping the area here. I only slept for 30 minutes before I had to go to the airport (really early flight). In a couple hours I'm heading out to get myself registered at the congress and get all my content, apparently they're handing out some other info a full printed copy of the program. At 5pm today there is an opening ceremony, which I will attend for about 30 minutes. After that there is a talk about lasers... I won't be attending that. At 6:30 I'll return to the congress for the open exhibitors/posters meet up. Essentially a meet and greet mingle.

Also, I've been in correspondence with Dr. Gail Naughton from Histogen and we are definitenly set to go for an interview at 9:15am on Saturday morning! EvilLocks and Joan, if either of you have any questions in regards to the science, this is your chance, and a particularly relevant one because Histogen's HSC looks to work quite well from women. Dr. Naughton has been kind enough to even send me her presentation in advance (I will ask if I can share this later on), so she seems to be pretty open about her work, which is great!

I got in touch with Dr. Takashi Tsuji as well. However, I believe a Q&A with him will prove to be difficult due to the language barrier; I sent him an email asking for a brief meeting took things, from what I believe, the wrong way. So, I'll leave it at that. Perhaps if I see him in person and introduce myself it will help things.

Also, just now I received a text message confirming another confirmed interview with Kerastem's Dr. Ken Washenik! I'll be meeting with him tomorrow at 4:15pm. Any questions for him, please post quickly! I'm definitely going to inquire about what happened to Aderans though.

Thanks for the update. Your work is really appreciated! Just a question based on the Histogen's presentation: does it look like it only will be effective for women at this state?
 

hellouser

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Thanks for the update. Your work is really appreciated! Just a question based on the Histogen's presentation: does it look like it only will be effective for women at this state?

I can tell you that right now:

It's intended for both men and women.
 

Joan

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Glad to hear you are well rested! Since I have Androgenetic Alopecia, I'm thinking I'll benefit from the same treatments as men. I was going to ask the same question as cratusg regarding Histogen, but you have answered it. Thank you.
 

hellouser

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Dr. Cotsarelis must be the tallest person at this Congress. Holy macro he's tall. Looks like he's about 6'5
 

kigoma

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Super job hellouser!

Is Dr. Cotsarelis balding in the crown as his past images suggest?

Please check out the 2-3 presentations on JAK inhibitors or at least ask those presenters whether they have seen any positive results on people with male pattern baldness.
 

Koga

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I haven't read anything about your visit to the Hair Congress, but are you gonna write some kind of rapport afterwards? I mean, that might me more efficient than a gazillion Q&A's between you and literary everyone on HairLossTalk.com.
 

hellouser

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I spoke to Dr. Lindner today!

He's VERY friendly and is confirmed my meeting with him and Beren. Unfortunately, and this will explain why we never heard from Desmond84 on this, I can't video record my personal meeting with him, nor can I voice record, there's a lot of info they are unable to share publicly or with investors. I will be taking notes though. This isn't a big deal for us since we don't really need to know the EXACT details about how they create follicles, but rather some info that solidifies of whats happening and what we can expect in the coming years.

Furthermore, and interestingly enough, Dr. Lindner DID mention they we're having some problems with finding funds and CROWDFUNDING was one venture they are looking into! This is particularly interesting because it's one area of work where I can actually help them GREATLY considering all the work I've done in the marketing field.

Also, Dr. Claire Higgins is at the congress. I'm going to try and talk to her about follicle regeneration with the use of Pilofocus.

I've recorded the audio from the opening ceremony, here it is:

https://soundcloud.com/hellouser-106788980/day-1-opening-ceremonymp3

Super job hellouser!

Is Dr. Cotsarelis balding in the crown as his past images suggest?

Definitely is balding in the crown. However, he's a giant. So tall, most people won't notice.

Please check out the 2-3 presentations on JAK inhibitors or at least ask those presenters whether they have seen any positive results on people with male pattern baldness.

Will do, tomorrow morning is the official poster presentation day, so I'll be there chatting with researchers.

- - - Updated - - -

I haven't read anything about your visit to the Hair Congress, but are you gonna write some kind of rapport afterwards? I mean, that might me more efficient than a gazillion Q&A's between you and literary everyone on HairLossTalk.com.

I'll do periodic updates with as much info I can provide, so there should be too many questions asked.
 

F2005

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439
You are doing a great job so far, Hellouser! Thanks so much!! Your dedication is second to none. That's cool how Drs. Lindner and Atac have been so nice. It's also interesting how they are having trouble with funding. Hopefully we can all help with that. And Admin, thanks so much for allowing all of our efforts towards the Hair Congress to occur, especially considering how difficult the BTT forum has been.
 
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