Hair Biology & Translational Research Training Course: Monasterium Laboratory

A world class training course on hair follicle science and discovery will be held in Münster, Germany in June 2022.

2nd Hair Biology & Translational Research in a Nutshell

The world’s leading contract research organization for skin and hair follicle sciences, Monasterium Laboratory, is hosting a top-tier educational course June 9 – 10 2022 in Münster, Germany. The course will feature 14 speakers who are all domain experts in various aspects of hair follicle biology and pathology. Below is a list of the scheduled speakers and their topics of interest; virtually all speakers will be discussing “potential therapeutic interventions or applications” for each of their topics. The official program contains all dates and times of the lectures, as well as expanded lecture details. 

Prof. Ralf Paus – Anatomy of the pilosebaceous unit / Clinical immunopathology of the hair follicle / Chemotherapy-induced alopecia.

Dr. Mikhail Geyfman – Human hair cycle control.

Dr. Gill Westgate – Hair shaft quality and diversity.

Dr. Andrei Mardaryev – Human hair follicle epithelial stem cells.

Prof. Desmond Tobin – Hair follicle pigmentation and greying.

Prof. Mike Philpott – Human hair follicle metabolism.

Prof. Tamás Biró – Hair follicles as chemosensory organs.

Dr. Janin Edelkamp – Human hair follicle and scalp microbiome.

Prof. Andrew Messenger – Hair follicle miniaturization in male/female pattern hair loss and its reversal.

Prof. Kristian Reich – The hair follicle – psoriasis connection.

Prof. Francisco Jimenez – Techniques and frontiers in hair transplantation.

Prof. Kevin McElwee – Cell-based and cell-free hair regeneration strategies.

Prof. Maurice van Steensel – Acne vulgaris and hidradenitis suppurativa.

Dr. Marta Bertolini – In vitro and ex vivo hair research models.

Prof. Amos Gilhar – Humanized mouse models for studying human hair growth.


The registration fee to attend the two-day event is 1500 € which includes a one night stay in a prestigious hotel in Münster, among other perks. Full registration details are available on the Monasterium website.

For skin/hair researchers, biotech executives, or clinicians, there are few educational seminars which rival the prowess of the Monasterium Laboratory’s “Research in a Nutshell” course. Please share this information with all whom you feel may be interested. 

70 Comments

  1. Follicle Thought on May 8, 2022 at 1:00 pm

    Please check back after June 10th for a non-confidential summary of the information shared at this event which will be provided by Monasterium Laboratory as a thank-you to Follicle Thought for spreading the word.

    What lecture looks most interesting? Personally, I find Prof. Tobin and Prof. McElwee’s topics very interesting.



    • Follicle Thought on May 10, 2022 at 9:53 pm

      Not exactly new YoYo, but a very interesting and well funded endeavor for sure. An update could come from Exicure at any time, but there’s no telling when.



  2. felix on May 10, 2022 at 9:52 pm

    Triple Hair, which was going to have its Phase III trial in Q3 2021, had pushed the start of Phase III to this year. Now, it’s been pushed to 2023! Pathetic. Compared with Kintor, that’s awful.



  3. woofy97 on May 11, 2022 at 12:49 am

    FT idk what to think of the moongene medi update. I’m a little disappointed it’s a dutasteride update from them they make no mention of crispr. I thought this was a cure via crispr not a treatment via dutasteride. disappointed



    • Follicle Thought on May 11, 2022 at 8:43 am

      I hear ya woofy, it seems as though there was a change in priorities at Moogene due to regulations, but not a total change. Should have an expanded update within a few days.



  4. Zedd on May 11, 2022 at 2:55 pm

    Hey just wanted to say thar kintors phase 2 results were leaked, it is as good if not even better than dutasteride. The slide where the data is shown is from kintor.



    • Follicle Thought on May 11, 2022 at 3:10 pm

      Is that serious Zedd? Do you have a source?



      • Zedd on May 11, 2022 at 3:59 pm

        Yes i do i will send you the screenshot if you want its real



        • Follicle Thought on May 11, 2022 at 5:09 pm

          Please do



          • Zedd on May 11, 2022 at 5:32 pm

            I cant post it here how do i message u or send it via email?



          • Zedd on May 11, 2022 at 5:33 pm

            Please tell me how to message u or send it to ur email 🙂



            • Follicle Thought on May 11, 2022 at 6:41 pm

              Yes, the method that Skye shared would be optimal. Additionally, you can use the contact page on this site to start an email discussion.



        • GEORGESTRAIT on May 11, 2022 at 6:21 pm

          You gave goosebumps brother. Please share with us.



  5. Skye on May 11, 2022 at 5:39 pm

    Hi Zed,

    You can upload it to https://imgbb.com/
    And then share the link, so we can all see it. Would love to see.



  6. Mjones on May 11, 2022 at 10:17 pm

    Hey Admin and Yoda….have you heard PhytoSol Rx. Topical minox, propecia, latanaprost compound?



    • Follicle Thought on May 11, 2022 at 10:28 pm

      Hadn’t heard of it other than just doing a search now and seeing that a few hair doctors are selling it. The one I found had spironolactone in it.



    • Yoda on May 12, 2022 at 6:15 pm

      I’m using it once a day, PhytoSol, in the evening, the one that Joe mentioned with 10 mg spironolactone, 5% minoxidil and 0.01% lantanoprost. I wanted to attack from another angle since using Formula 82D (5% minox 1% Dutasteride) in the morning. Been using 82D for about 3 months and the Phytosol for about a month.



  7. Zedd on May 12, 2022 at 1:40 am

    https://ibb.co/5vzRPs1 here you go!



    • gipsy on May 12, 2022 at 7:17 am

      it’s been 3 months since this screen came out on reddit….it’s also on the HLT forums for long.

      we don’t know if it’s legit though…let’s wait, no false hope.



      • Follicle Thought on May 12, 2022 at 7:59 am

        Thanks for that background info gipsy, I had not seen it until now. And yes, I also suggest that we certainly don’t know if this is legitimate. For example, what’s the story behind the “leak” etc?

        Almost forgot to mention, thanks for following up and sharing the image, Zedd.



    • Skye on May 13, 2022 at 8:47 pm

      Few things about the leak. Chances are it was an early draft and is incomplete.

      For one we don’t know what the area the measurements were taken for.
      If it’s 1cm^2 then it’s great and would be a great mono therapy. If it’s 1inch^2 then it’ll probably still have to be part of a stack.

      Also a bit confused on the placebo giving 9 hairs in the target area. Hopefully this is a net decrease of 9 rather than an increase. As an increase would be quite odd for a placebo.

      But that’s assuming it’s real at all. Can’t wait for June regardless. Does anyone have an idea what the even they are waiting for is? Might give an idea if what date.



      • Follicle Thought on May 14, 2022 at 10:07 am

        I haven’t really taken time to look, does any know what “major conference” in June Kintor is planning to present at?



  8. Zedd on May 12, 2022 at 2:44 pm

    No problem follicle thought a reddit user sent me the leak i thought it looked pretty legitimate it would take a really skilled photoshop artist and one that knows statistics and confidential intervalls to fibricate this. But who knows either way hopefully thats actually the efficacy that would be amazing!



    • Follicle Thought on May 12, 2022 at 5:34 pm

      I agree Zedd that it would take a decent amount of effort for apparently no reason for someone to falsify this, but it’s not something we can bank on yet. Also, to clarify, I did not imply that you were potentially illegitimate, I was referring to the actual source of this image. Thanks for sharing it.



  9. YoYo on May 12, 2022 at 4:44 pm

    Another Stemson talk. Tickets are very cheap. https://www.sdentrepreneurs.org/stem_cell



  10. iL44 on May 13, 2022 at 8:01 am

    Stemson ticket prices is acceptable and very good. People who living close Sandiego are very luck.
    But price of ticket by Monasterium lab is unbelievable. 1500 Euro!! they must be crazy lol.
    Just 50 km away from my home but why i have to pay 1500? for what?
    Just for promising and theory for never coming future solutions.
    Our only chance is Stemson guys, follow them, listen them and pray for team of Stemson.



    • Follicle Thought on May 13, 2022 at 11:18 am

      Cool to know you’re close by. The Monasterium Training Course is geared towards research and industry professionals, but all are welcome.



  11. José on May 13, 2022 at 1:31 pm

    Do you have to pay to participate in a clinical trial? Or if it’s free and I’m willing to pay, do I have more options to be chosen?



    • Follicle Thought on May 14, 2022 at 10:08 am

      Jose, sometimes the participants are paid to be part of a clinical trial. I don’t know exactly what you’re talking about though..



  12. Mjones on May 14, 2022 at 1:40 pm

    Yoda does the phytosol topical work well? Have you noticed sny regrowth?



    • Yoda on May 14, 2022 at 6:38 pm

      Come on MJ, you know better than that, it’s only been a month!! I got some gains from 82D over the prior topical dut I was using, I think because it’s a better made product (in a real pharmacy) with a higher concentration of dut .75 vs .5, dut is dose dependent. What I can say about the Phytosol at this point is I’m really not loosing any hair over what a person would who wasn’t affected by AGA. Not that I was loosing that much before due to the 82D, but now it’s even less. Possibly I see some thickening but too early to tell.



  13. woofy97 on May 16, 2022 at 10:59 pm

    Verteporfin hasn’t been talked about in quite some time.



    • Follicle Thought on May 17, 2022 at 9:45 am

      woofy, I’m following some online discussions about Verteporfin. I continue to suggest that if it does work in humans, I believe it would only work when a wound is involved. Will share any pertinent info I see.



      • woofy97 on May 17, 2022 at 10:11 am

        ok thanks FT



  14. Follicle Thought on May 17, 2022 at 10:02 am

    Slightly bizarre news coming out of the now-merged Follicum company. Read it on the Updates page and remember to check that page out if you’re not already.

    Thanks to Jens for the news tip.



  15. Nick on May 17, 2022 at 2:21 pm

    Hi Admin!
    First of all many thanks to you.
    Your blog helps me not giving up the hope that there will be a cure sometime.
    I am 28 and suffering from hairless the past 10 years. Luckily slowly but my temples are receding quite fast the last two years.
    Anyways: I often read about Dutasteride mesotherapy and how effective it should be. Unfortunately there is no real data available and there are just a few Doctors in Europe practicing it. Do you think it is possible to bring an update on that? Maybe an interview with a practicing doctor? I would appreciate it and I guess some other readers as well.
    Best regards



    • Follicle Thought on May 17, 2022 at 3:55 pm

      Hi Nick, thanks for the kind words much appreciated. I could potentially cover the topic in a larger article at some point, but I don’t have plans to do it at the moment. The logic to start with is that dutasteride works for hair loss (we know that) and that mesotherapy could potentially lessen side effects and improve results through local administration. Results vary of course. Please search for Dr. Vano’s study on dutasteride mesotherapy.



  16. Follicle Thought on May 19, 2022 at 3:43 pm

    woofy, here is a new presentation involving Verteporfin. Just saw today. Check out 13:42 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Wz4v1UW7Sw



  17. iL44 on May 20, 2022 at 7:13 am

    Thanks FT for video.
    I tried to watch all session but it is too long video. As i understood from searchers that verteporfin will be a game changer for scar and wound healing but i could not realized relations with hair regrowing or with baldness.
    Just stimulate the existing hair which damaged during wounding to coming back.
    Maybe will be useful for scars which remain cause of hair transplantation.
    If i am wrong or misunderstood please guys inform me.



  18. Skye on May 20, 2022 at 11:01 am

    Hi iL44

    I believe the significance to verteporfin is that it could be used in the donation area to prevent scarring and allow the regrowth of hair. Hair which can then be used for further transplants. Thus increasing the number of grafts that can take.



    • iL44 on May 20, 2022 at 1:17 pm

      Thanks Skye for your explanation. but on the other hand i could not find that logical because during FUT process they cut some pieces of donor area and take hair follicles.
      It means no further hair stemcells or etc.remain In removed area. If verteprofin regrows the hair in cut donor area it means it can regrow on shiny bald scalp.
      But i guess this method is not our waiting breakthrough or miracle.Moreover, that is very good approach for scar healing.



      • Skye on May 20, 2022 at 2:23 pm

        I think the idea is that once the draft is taken, during the repair process rather than hairless scar tissue it will regenerate skin containing the hair follicles.

        If you check the video they take big hexagonal chunks of skin out of the pigs and the hair grew back.

        So it seems to reason a smaller hole punched that removes a single hair follicle will also regenerate the follicle.

        Assuming the cuts are of the same relative depth as a hair graft. But the way the presentation seems to words it, is that these are newly created hair follicles, not reparation of partially damaged ones.



        • Follicle Thought on May 21, 2022 at 9:35 am

          Thanks for chiming in Skye. I think your assessment is sound. One point that occurred to me over time is that if Verteporfin works in humans to regenerate skin/hair, the area which would regenerate in FUT is much smaller than the tissue which was taken out since the skin is pulled together and stitched. However, if it worked in FUE extractions as well that would be ideal of course.



  19. Skye on May 21, 2022 at 5:29 pm

    God point admin, I never thought about using it for FUT.

    Maybe it could allow smaller strips to be taken and repaired to allow a gradual increase, rather than one big procedure.

    However thinking more on it. I’m not sure if the mentioned that the skin was repaired to have the same number of hairs. Meaning it might not work for FUE but work for small area FUT.

    Would there be any chance on an interview the the researchers?

    I’d understand if not as they seem more focused on treating debilitating scars rather than cosmetic, though I feel cosmetic surgeons would be the easier field to adopt the usage as the surgeon would control the scarring that occurs.



    • Follicle Thought on May 21, 2022 at 7:04 pm

      Skye, the researchers have not completed a significant trial yet, so I don’t feel there is a point in trying to interview them just yet. We have some good information from the lecture and data.

      When I have more information about other doctors trying Verteporfin on their own for hair and scar revision, it will be here.



  20. Ahmed bekeer on May 21, 2022 at 7:39 pm

    the clinical study that demonstrated the efficacy of the JAK inhibitor Baricitinib in alopecia areata. The results have just been published in the New England Medical Journal, and FDA approval of the drug is expected in the coming months. JAK inhibitors represent a therapy finally aimed at interrupting the abnormal immune response that is the cause of alopecia areata. In fact, they block the action of some cytokines (interferon gamma and interleukin 15) which induce and maintain the autoimmune aggression of the follicle which causes the fall and prevents hair regrowth in alopecia areata.



  21. woofy97 on May 22, 2022 at 12:22 am

    That’s great for AA it’s something of a miracle, but I wish jak inhibitors would also work on AGA. Such bs. Anyways I’m being repetitive.

    here’s another hair system transformation. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdwj1RyDTf5/



  22. Andy on May 22, 2022 at 5:55 pm

    Admin, it’s almost half way through 2022..any products or companies planning on releasing something to the market on par or better than finasteride + minoxidil this year or 2023? Looking forward to kintor phase 2 results soon but that’s still atleast another year or 2 before on market. Trying to be patient but losing hope. This page always gives me some hope. Thanks



    • woofy97 on May 22, 2022 at 6:45 pm

      Sorry Andy but every companies is in pre clinical still or in the slow clinical trial stages. Maybe we will see next year Kantor on the market, and hopefully verteporfin if it works for HTs. That’s about it.
      Oh and follica if they are even still around….



    • Follicle Thought on May 22, 2022 at 7:07 pm

      Andy, I’d say that Kx826 is the best prospect in the game right now in regards to timeline and benefit. I know 2 years doesn’t sound fun but if we got a new drug within 2 years it would be excellent news. Drugs that are better than min + fin is a challenging task. But progress and effort is always being made. Hang in there.



      • Follicle Thought on May 22, 2022 at 7:08 pm

        Also, I will have some HUTERA news this week which should be interesting.



  23. leo on May 22, 2022 at 11:42 pm

    No any genetic PhD ?
    There are genetic tools like CRISPR/Cas9. There are successful entering “DNA scissors” to a blood of human. Why ppl just don’t try genetic treatment ? Why thy don’t try to fix the reason of hair loss instead of fighting with consequences ? That’s so stupid.



    • Follicle Thought on May 23, 2022 at 12:03 am

      There are some genetic approaches being researched leo, I imagine it’s a little easier said than done.



      • leo on May 23, 2022 at 12:31 am

        Follicle Thought, especially if there are no any biotech startups aimed to find how to treat AGA with editing of DNA.



        • leo on May 23, 2022 at 1:31 am

          Follicle Thought, I found something about a gene therapy of AGA. My English is poor. But as far as I understand we have stupid laws that forbid editing human DNA.
          https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7664905/
          We can only hope that epidemics of covid, monkey monkeypox will open a door for treatments based on DNA editing.



        • Follicle Thought on May 23, 2022 at 11:10 am

          leo, the companies Omega Therapeutics, Exicure, and Moogene Medi are all working in advanced epigenomic programming/nucleic acid based therapeutics. Moogene is actually working with DNA editing but their program is delayed for now. Use the search function to read about all those companies. They exist, but 2 of them probably need much more money to get going. Thanks for sharing the study above.



  24. Hope on May 24, 2022 at 1:26 pm

    it seems that Verily (Google’s sister company) and Loreal will be researching skin diseases together. Hair loss is explicitly mentioned. Two giants and world market leaders in their field could change a lot. Verily is considered a leader in precision medicine and is supported with billions of research dollars each year.

    https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/verily-and-l-or-al-team-skin-research-new-digital-tools



    • Follicle Thought on May 24, 2022 at 3:13 pm

      Thanks for sharing Hope. I see that hair loss was mentioned generally in the article, but I wonder how focused they will be on hair.



  25. Hope on May 24, 2022 at 4:48 pm

    Hair aging will play a major role in the collaboration. These are both billion-dollar companies that can make a big difference.

    Here is an official press release: https://www.loreal.com/en/press-release/group/loreal-x-verily-partnership/

    “The first-of-its-kind partnership in the beauty industry is expected to entail two programs aimed to better understand and characterize skin and hair aging mechanisms and to inform L’Oréal’s precision beauty tech strategy and product development.”



  26. Hope on May 24, 2022 at 4:59 pm

    there is talk of great innovations. Now that we know it’s also about hair aging, I find this very interesting. Verily has already worked together with GSK, it was also about sensors and chip technology. They started working together almost 5 years ago and started a clinical study on arthritis this year. They also want to start studies against rheumatism

    https://www.loreal.com/en/videos/group/barbara-lavernos-and-guive-balooch/



  27. Andy on May 25, 2022 at 8:47 am

    Is hair aging reference to a possible grey hair reversal treatment?



    • iL44 on May 25, 2022 at 8:59 am

      Probably yes it is Andy.
      As i know Loreal has been searching for that treatment for several years with no results.
      Maybe they can be a pioneer of hair greying reversel but first we need some company to bring us some hair.



  28. Andy on May 25, 2022 at 3:28 pm

    Another question i have, do you think there will ever be a treatment that will actually reverse grey hair in the near future almost like a hair dye effect or will it just be to try prevent any more grey hairs as I keep reading it’s impossible to regain the color again once hair turns grey? Eirion therapeutics looks the most promising but they are yet to even start clinical trials



    • Follicle Thought on May 25, 2022 at 5:35 pm

      I do think there will be a company which can reverse grey hair, yes, I just don’t know when they will come. I am sure that big companies work on this sort of thing (like L’Oreal) and L’Oreal are probably working on this exact issue with Verily. But it’s not easy to speculate a timeline without even a public pipeline announced.

      New article tomorrow on Moogene, by the way.



  29. Andy on June 11, 2022 at 5:49 pm

    Any worthy news from this training course?



    • Follicle Thought on June 12, 2022 at 9:13 am

      I haven’t conducted the interview yet, will share probably by the end of the week.



      • Follicle Thought on June 24, 2022 at 10:57 am

        Should have a recap soon.



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