Hair Research Laboratory

Hair Research Laboratory

• The Hair Research Laboratory is an internationally recognized authority on hair and hair disorders.
• The laboratory is part of the Skin Care Centre at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) and the skin sciences research program at Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI).
• It is the only academic hair research and treatment centre in Canada.
• It is a first for Canada in terms of the size, scope, and integration of clinical programs with lab-based research programs, under one roof.

Background

• The hair follicle is metabolically one of the most rapidly proliferating units of the skin. This has significant health implications for not only diseases of the skin and scalp, but also disease in general.
• Over 70 percent of men and 40 percent of women will suffer some degree of hair loss during their life.
• Hair loss is not simply a matter of aesthetics but can also influence career advancement and emotional well being.
• The hair loss industry is estimated at $7 billion annually worldwide.
• Hair follicles can also be sources of cancerous cells that develop into skin cancer, especially basal cell carcinomas
• Hair follicles can also help other forms of skin cancer to grow by producing cell growth promoting chemicals as part of the hair growth promoting mechanism.

Research Foci

• Inflammatory hair loss diseases (alopecia areata, scarring alopecias).
• Hormone-related hair loss (male pattern baldness).
• Hair follicle growth and cycling and changes that occur with hair loss.
• The role of the hair follicle in cutaneous wound healing and tissue regeneration.
• The inductive behaviour of hair follicle derived cells (follicular neogenesis).
• Hair follicle associated neoplasias including basal cell carcinomas.

Research Goals

• Unlocking the links between the immune system and disordered hair growth in alopecia areata and scarring alopecia.
• Identifying the interactions between hormones and skin aging with hair growth and loss.
• Restoring normal hair growth and improving the quality of life for individuals with hair loss or excessive hair growth by developing new hair loss treatments.
• Understanding the link between hair biology and skin cancer.
• Developing new methods to induce new hair follicle formation in skin.
• Understanding and developing the role of the hair follicle in aiding and promoting wound healing.

Research Approach

• The Hair Research Laboratory uses a combined clinical and biomedical approach.
• The clinic analyses data from patients to identify trends and characteristics of different hair loss diseases.
• The clinic develops methods of hair loss measurement using digital imaging and computer analysis.
• The clinic works with patients to find the causes of hair loss using blood and skin tissue tests.
• The clinic tests the effectiveness of novel hair loss disease therapies with the help of volunteers.
• The laboratory studies blood samples from patients with hair loss diseases such as alopecia areata and scarring alopecia using flow cytometry, ELISA, and ELISPOT assays.
• The laboratory studies tissues from patients with hair loss or skin cancers using immunohistology, immunoblotting, microarray, and quantitative PCR techniques to measure gene and gene product expression.
• The laboratory develops cell culture techniques for the study of cancer and mechanisms of cancer cell growth.
• The laboratory develops models of diseases to study the mechanisms of disease development.

Achievements

• The laboratory has pioneered the development and use of treatments in North America such as topical immunotherapy and immunosuppressive therapy for the treatment alopecia areata.
• The laboratory has discovered several gene loci that contribute to the development of the autoimmune hair loss disease, alopecia areata.
• Studies indicate hair follicles have considerable regenerative properties. The Hair Laboratory has proven the ability to replicate hair follicles using dermal tissues and the ability to modify hair follicle growth by cell injection.
• The research team has identified close associations in gene expression between hair follicles and basal cell carcinoma type skin cancers.
• Research as identified several biochemical factors that promote basal cell carcinoma growth.
• The investigators have received grant awards from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Canadian Dermatology Foundation (CDA), Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR), and the National Alopecia Areata Foundation (NAAF).

Who We Are

Dr. Kevin McElwee, Director, Basic Science Research.

• An expert in cellular mechanics of hair loss and growth.
• One of only a few people in the world who holds a doctoral degree in hair biology.

Dr. Jerry Shapiro, Director Clinical Research.

• A world authority on hair disorders with patients from across Canada and around the world.
• Author and co-author of numerous publications on hair biology and hair diseases.

Dr Mei Yu, Research Associate.

• An expert in microarray and quantitative PCR analysis.
• Research leader on the relationship between basal cell carcinomas and hair follicles.

Blanche Lo, PhD candidate.

• Studying biochemical factors involved in the growth of basal cell carcinomas and inflammation.

Eddy Wang, MSc candidate

• Studying proteins involved in stimulating the immune system response against hair follicles in alopecia areata.