Interview & Presentation | Dr. Claire Higgins - (science)

Solomon

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C. HIGGINS (UK) -
DERMAL CONDENSATIONS AND PAPILLAE IN HAIR DEVELOPMENT

17th MEETING OF THE EUROPEAN
HAIR RESEARCH SOCIETY
June 24-26 2016, Tbilisi State University
Tbilisi, Georgia
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First of all I want to express my biggest sympathy and respect towards dr. Higgins. She is veeery nice, intelligent and beautiful woman.

We had very interesting talk. Below I'm posting our interview edited by her.

On what are you working now? What have you achieved? If you have some future plans?

I am working on a range of hair and skin related projects since starting my lab 2 years ago. My lab only has 2 people at the moment but in October we will have 6 people. Some of them are working on pressure ulcers and wound healing. Others are working on a condition called heterotopic ossification where you get bone forming in places it shouldn’t. Others are trying to understand the mechanism of condensation in the skin. In hair development you have dermal cells migrating together and they can double in density to form the condensate. There are many cells in dermis and we want to understand which are going to the condensate. This is important to know as these cells become the dermal papilla in adult hair follicles.

As I know dr. Tsuji is working on the similar technology….

I am not entirely sure what they are working on. With their recent paper they made papilla cells into a condensate by centrifuging them to push the cells together. I want to find out what the signal is in the body that makes condensation occur naturally.

You have mentioned wound healing. Is it similar to Follica?

No, our work on wound healing is not related to hair growth, but my lab works on many skin related projects. We are trying to prevent wounds known as pressure ulcers from developing in the first place. We are also trying to make chronic wounds, which stay opened for several months, to close. We do not want hair to grow in them; we just want them to close. J J

Are you going to have some clinical trial on hair growth?

No, I’m not clinician. Also, I just started my lab 2 years ago. It takes a long time to find something to run to clinical trial. All of the JAK-STAT stuff is in the alopecia areata clinical trial that was part of Angela Christiano’s lab where I was post-doctoral researcher. Now I have my own lab. I have to find something myself and then I maybe would do a trial, but this is many years away.

Do you think that we can have the better treatments for hair loss before the end of this decade?

In the next 4 years would be the end of this decade as it is 2016 now. It takes a long time to find a treatment, and have a clinical trial. If something does come out in the next 4 years it has to be one of the things that is being trialed at the moment. In this short timeframe you are not going to find something new and then trial it, and have it come out as a treatment. But there are many trials; you have got George’s work, Angela’s JAK-STAT work (but that is not trialed for Androgenetic Alopecia-rather it’s for alopecia areata). And there is Allergan’s work with Bimatoprost.

Based on histopathological and ultrastructural studies we have come to learn that perifollicular inflammation is often present in Androgenetic Alopecia. Furthermore in some Androgenetic Alopecia cases fibrosis can be seen which leads to partly or complete destruction of the hair follicle. Do you think that Androgenetic Alopecia at a certain timepoint reflects a irreversible state, in the sense that only the creation of a new hair follicle will do through for instance organ regeneration?

Yeah, with Androgenetic Alopecia you do get to the point of no return where you can’t go back. That’s why it is different from alopecia areata. Even if you lost your hair 50 years ago with alopecia areata you can still reverse it, because the stem cells are still there. In Androgenetic Alopecia you lose the stem cells and without them the only option is to make a new hair.

Can you something about how you see near future of hair loss industry. Is there something on horizon?

Well I think hair cloning is obviously interesting but it is very difficult. We maybe need to find something that recreates the hair cloning effect without surgery.

Is it an injection?

At the moment hair cloning is an injection. You inject dermal papillae cells and they either augment existing follicles or make new follicles. That is what companies like Replicel are doing. They are using dermal sheath cup cells but it’s the same concept. I think the future (but it’s not in 4 years or 5 years away, it’s like in 20 years) is to promote direct conversion of fibroblasts into papillae. But something like this will take decades. We don’t know how to do that yet.

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Unfortunately lightning was very bad so I was literally filming blank screen.
But I've got the slides and I'm uploading it here. You can see the attached file.

 
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pegasus2

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So she and Dr. Hoffmann both seem to think that slick bald areas are doomed until Tsuji's hair multiplication treatment is ready in another ten years. Very disheartening. I may have no choice but to try oral spironolactone and estradiol if I want my hairline back.
 

kj6723

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From the sound of it, finasteride and transplants are still going to be the best things available for as long as any of us will still be under 40...
 

Swoop

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Nice interview Solomon, thanks.


So she and Dr. Hoffmann both seem to think that slick bald areas are doomed until Tsuji's hair multiplication treatment is ready in another ten years. Very disheartening. I may have no choice but to try oral spironolactone and estradiol if I want my hairline back.

And Tershikh.. And 2 other elite researchers I have been in contact with...

Also oral spironolactone and estradiol don't give you guarantee on major regrowth.

Androgenetic Alopecia = one helluva beast.

Clearly IMO, the future is predictable. If you are a NW3 baldite don't expect to regrow your hairline with therapies that are coming in the near future. However with a bit of luck they will give something in terms of damage control and might give some regrowth back and make minoxidil and finasteride more obsolete.

That is until the day gene therapy comes or hair cloning a la Dr. Tsuji. However that isn't in the near future but still quite some years away.

Best to work in terms of damage control really. It gets clear to me more and more every day.

Yeah, well slashing your goddamn T and blasting yourself with E2 is a option too I guess. Eunuch lifestyle lol.
 
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kj6723

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Yeah, I'm a NW3 so I'm pretty much screwed. I don't care to be 40 before I get my hairline back. I will likely end up trying spironolactone and estradiol. It's no guarantee, but it seems to be the only possibility that I will ever have youth and good hair. Being an old man with good hair one day is little consolation for spending your youth without hair.

With NW3 you should be able to get a decent hairline back with a transplant, no? Probably a better idea than risking f***ing up your body with those drugs.
 

kj6723

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Yes, but I would still be a NW2. I want to be NW0

Have you had your donor evaluated? You might be able to make it back to NW1(which in my opinion looks better than NW0 in most cases). Even NW2 is pretty much a full head of hair, though.

Either way, I think Swoop is right, damage control is what we have. It's futile for those of us in our 20's and 30's to wait around for a cure if we want to enjoy looking youthful while we have youth left. Eyeing next summer as a probable time for my transplant.
 

kj6723

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No, I haven't. I just started treatment a few months ago, and I'm adding topical estriol now, and tretinoin on the hairline. In a few more months I will reevaluate, and consider oral spironolactone and estradiol. I'll get a hair transplant evaluation first, but I've been told that no doctor is going to bring my hairline down to where I want it even if I have the donor hair for it.

Gotcha. Well, either way I hope it works out for you. I definitely think getting the eval done first is the smart way to go, just to be sure you've exhausted the safer option.

NW2.5-3 myself, looking to go NW1. I'll settle for something in the 1.5-2 range though if it's what my donor count allows.
 

pegasus2

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Gotcha. Well, either way I hope it works out for you. I definitely think getting the eval done first is the smart way to go, just to be sure you've exhausted the safer option.

NW2.5-3 myself, looking to go NW1. I'll settle for something in the 1.5-2 range though if it's what my donor count allows.

Grow back as much as you can with minoxidil first, and you may get it. Good luck.
 

kuba197

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Nice interview Solomon, thanks.




And Tershikh.. And 2 other elite researchers I have been in contact with...

Also oral spironolactone and estradiol don't give you guarantee on major regrowth.

Androgenetic Alopecia = one helluva beast.

Clearly IMO, the future is predictable. If you are a NW3 baldite don't expect to regrow your hairline with therapies that are coming in the near future. However with a bit of luck they will give something in terms of damage control and might give some regrowth back and make minoxidil and finasteride more obsolete.

That is until the day gene therapy comes or hair cloning a la Dr. Tsuji. However that isn't in the near future but still quite some years away.

Best to work in terms of damage control really. It gets clear to me more and more every day.

Yeah, well slashing your goddamn T and blasting yourself with E2 is a option too I guess. Eunuch lifestyle lol.
Are you still in contact with Dr. Tsuji. Could you ask how far they are?
 
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Torin

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I hope to hell that Dr. Tsuji is far more optimistic than those present at this congress. He does aim to start trials in 2020, so he should at least know if it is successful in humans within <4 years from 2020? Not saying that's when it would be made commercially available but the news would be known by then.

I'm buoyed by Dr. Tsuji's optimism and evidence he has shown on mouse and artificial skin. The Doctors at the congress in Georgia (Hoffman, Higgins etc.) have demonstrated nothing of the sort.

Also the emphasis of some of those Doctors was to try and revive/reawaken follicles. We know that may well be impossible. Tsuji obviously must have disregarded this possibility early on and instead focused on growing brand new hairs.

I seriously hope Tsuji prevails. Let Higgins try and revive dead follicles for 30 years if she wants while we play with our cloned hairs.
 

Solomon

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I hope to hell that Dr. Tsuji is far more optimistic than those present at this congress. He does aim to start trials in 2020, so he should at least know if it is successful in humans within <4 years from 2020? Not saying that's when it would be made commercially available but the news would be known by then.

I'm buoyed by Dr. Tsuji's optimism and evidence he has shown on mouse and artificial skin. The Doctors at the congress in Georgia (Hoffman, Higgins etc.) have demonstrated nothing of the sort.

Also the emphasis of some of those Doctors was to try and revive/reawaken follicles. We know that may well be impossible. Tsuji obviously must have disregarded this possibility early on and instead focused on growing brand new hairs.

I seriously hope Tsuji prevails. Let Higgins try and revive dead follicles for 30 years if she wants while we play with our cloned hairs.

Higgins is trying to create new follicles as well.
As I know dr. Tsuji is working on the similar technology….

I am not entirely sure what they are working on. With their recent paper they made papilla cells into a condensate by centrifuging them to push the cells together. I want to find out what the signal is in the body that makes condensation occur naturally.
 

Torin

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She answered she is not entirely sure what he is doing.

Dr. Higgins is not working on growing hair right now. She only just opened her lab a few years ago and currently has 2 people working for her. Tsuji has an experienced team around him in highly regarded institute (Riken).

Dr. Higgins talked about clinical trials delaying things. This may be true in Europe and the US, but in Japan this process is shorter.

If she decided to focus on hair from today, it would probably take her upwards of ten years to grow hair on mice or create novel artificial skin. And that is if she started right now with a futuristic lab and top team around her. Tsuji has already achieved these goals in this decade.

Tsuji seems confident that his method will translate well in humans. He has given clear information about hair density achieved in mice (128 hairs per cm2).

He has said on several occasions that hair would be the first milestone achieved in organ regeneration; he also aims to regenerate other human organs after hair. His field of expertise is organogenesis.

So all of this and the fact that Tsuji is 20 years older than Higgins, I would think that Tsuji is aiming to deliver a new treatment in the not so distant future (known success in humans well within 7 years, release in 10-14 years).

As for Hoffman, he is simply not in the same league as Tsuji despite being of the same age/generation.

Tsuji = hair cloned on mice, cloned salivary glands in mice, bioengineered teeth, artificial skin.

Hoffman =... 10 year old photo of a mouse's ear and selling dodgy Trichoscanners to Indian companies.
 
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orkun

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Dr George Cotsarelisfollicles do not die ?
http://health.usnews.com/health-new...m-cell-defect-might-help-spur-common-baldness
The findings offer "a lot more hope that you could actually get hair to grow in a bald scalp," said study co-author Dr. George Cotsarelis, chairman of the dermatology department at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Cotsarelis.

"Previously we thought the stem cells were gone, and if that was the case it would be very difficult. But because they are present it should be possible to treat," he said.

For their study, the authors collected human scalp tissue -- both bald and haired -- discarded during hair transplant procedures performed on 54 white men who were 40 to 65 years old.


HIGGINS (UK)::follicle dead


which one is right?
 

Solomon

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Dr George Cotsarelisfollicles do not die ?
http://health.usnews.com/health-new...m-cell-defect-might-help-spur-common-baldness
The findings offer "a lot more hope that you could actually get hair to grow in a bald scalp," said study co-author Dr. George Cotsarelis, chairman of the dermatology department at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Cotsarelis.

"Previously we thought the stem cells were gone, and if that was the case it would be very difficult. But because they are present it should be possible to treat," he said.

For their study, the authors collected human scalp tissue -- both bald and haired -- discarded during hair transplant procedures performed on 54 white men who were 40 to 65 years old.


HIGGINS (UK)::follicle dead


which one is right?

If Cots thinks that Stem cells don't die... Why he is developing product for creating new hair follicles rather than awaking the old ones? Idk, maybe it's easier to create new follicles?
 

Tracksterderm

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She is clearly saying hair regeneration is the only way to regrow on slick bald areas. And at the same time she mentionned Replicel as a hair cloning via injecting replicated cells.

So if Replicell are successful then that should be enough to regrow on slick bald areas as well.
 
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