HAIRCON: 8th Scientific Conference & Workshop of (AHRS)

What is the HAIRCON event all about?

HAIRCON is an unrivaled type of conference of hair restoration experts in India where hair care experts from all across the globe and India participate together and establish a unique kind of learning experience. Any medico who is presently performing hair restoration is ambitious or, to be honest, just cannot afford to miss this chamber of deputies.

AHRS India is currently a renowned organization that is pledged to foster research and awareness in the field of hair transplantation surgery. The first of its kind congress was founded on October 27th, 2008, with the following motives:

• To promote and manage the development of hair restoration surgery in India along robust, scientific, ethical, and successive lines.
• To stimulate, control, and coordinate training and research in Hair Restoration Surgery
• To advise distich hair transplant organization of teaching programs in the respective field in India
• To stimulate dissipation and dispersion of knowledge of the teaching of science and art of hair restoration surgery amongst associated members of the medical and paramedical professions.
• To spread awareness and deliver scientifically appropriate information about hair transplantation to the general public.

In India, the hair transplant surgical procedure was typically a new idea that only a few surgeons were performing. As time, emerging medical talents, and innovative techniques landed, awareness about the transplant procedure increased among Indian physicians and the masses alike.

The rise of hair transplants in society and the medical world gave rise to the need for a common platform where all the concerns regarding hair transplantation could be discussed. In that period, in the year 2008, the founder members of AHRS India, to name a few: Dr. Kapil Dua, Dr. Aman Dua, Dr.Tejinder Bhatti, Dr. Sanjiv Vasa, Dr. Lakshyajit D. Dhami, Dr. Rajendra Singh Rajput, and Dr. Ashok Vardhan Reddy, identified this need and established a platform that also received international accreditation by the name of “Association of Hair Restoration Surgeons of India.”.

• New & modern techniques now coming up

With the whirlwind of constant developments and advances being made in the domain of hair restoration surgeries in India and abroad, the boulevards are open for the speedy growth of this association. Let’s take a brief look at the huge strides taken by AHRS:-

• Position Statement on Cell-based hair restoration Treatments, such as stem cell-based therapies
• Hair doubling
• Hair multiplication
• Hair cloning.

The AHRS recognizes the fact that, with the existing evidence and at the ongoing stage of research, stem cells, hair multiplication, and hair cloning cannot be regarded as “acceptable treatments” for any form of hair loss issues.

Any physician wishing to perform such treatment must do so as an experimental treatment after acquiring applicable ethical clearance and legal permission from verified governmental bodies according to standard guidelines for clinical trials.

• New Challenges and Solutions in Hair Transplant

Understanding the science behind stem cell-based therapies:

Hair transplantation is one of the surgical procedures of hair restoration that involves the transfer of permanent hair follicles from the sides and back of the head to the bald area. The most prospective restriction of hair transplantation is the fixed amount of donor area that can be utilized in a specific individual. Hair restoration specialists and patients alike have aspired to have a never-ending supply of hair for restoring bald areas in suffering people.

Converting thousands of hair follicles into a single follicle was one such process. This technique was wrongly addressed as “hair cloning,” which involves the formation of hundreds of follicles out of a single follicle. However, this method is not real hair cloning and is more properly realized as laboratory-engineered cell growth or cell-based therapy.

• Best practices to adopt in a hair transplant

In the last decade, developments in tissue engineering methodologies and stem cell biology have elevated the hope of possible cell-based therapies that could bring under control the donor area limitation.

The distinct conceptual theories proposed by AHRS on how stem cells based therapy would work:

• These stem cells may be able to generate new hair follicles
• They may trigger the remaining existing follicles, transforming the vellus (thin) hair follicles into thicker terminal follicles.

Until now no broadcast or report has expressed the creation of new follicles in the bald scalp of humans. Most of the clinical experiments in humans have illustrated that infusing stem cells into the scalp resulted in some thickening of existing vellus hairs.

This outcome is similar to that obtained with traditional treatments (oral finasteride and topical minoxidil). The exact mechanism that results in this thickening is unknown. As the period of the advantages is also not known, it is therefore difficult to anticipate whether a single treatment will be needed or whether multiple treatments will be required to sustain the benefits. As a result, at this time, the costs associated with these cell-based therapies might not be worth it given their transient benefits.

• Experience is shared with participants, Drs., by qualified speakers around the globe who are masters in this industry

The well-known international delegates, Dr. Alex Ginzburg, Dr. Koray Erdogan, and Dr. Ali Abbasi participated in the first-ever HAIRCON conference that was held in Ahmedabad in 2009 under the leadership of Dr. Sanjiv Vasa (President, AHRS India), Dr. Bhatti (Secretary), and Vice President Dr. Rajendra Singh Rajput. Around 100 delegates attended this conference. The focal point of the conference was the live surgery workshops for hair restoration using both Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) and Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) techniques. The seminar turned out to be a mega success, with discussion over different methodologies of hair restoration from different countries sharing a common platform for the first time in India.

The recent 7th Haircon was held in the scenic beauty hill station, Lonavala, in 2015. Over 200 delegates from India and other countries attended the seminar that Dr. Narendra Patwardhan organized. The highlight of the seminar meeting was the live surgical demonstration and an exclusive academic discussion on different topics of hair transplant that went on for two days. The seminar was time and again a big hit and was highly appreciated by the international as well as national participants.

• International Faculty and Speakers at HAIRCON

Here you will be introduced to the expert doctors and speakers of HAIRCON who have contributed a significant part towards hair restoration development and transformed many lives all over the world.

Dr. Alex Ginzburg, Israel

Dr. Alex completed his dermatological studies in Israel in 1987 and obtained his medical degree in Argentina. Dr. Alex has successfully conducted over 3,500 hair transplants in Israel since 1992. Presently, his major practice is mechanized FUE, but the expert is well equipped in the expertise of strip FUT as well.

Dr. Alex is a faculty member and an active participant in many congresses all over the world. He has personally trained many doctors in the science and art of hair transplant surgery at his clinic in Israel. He is a former and fellow board governor of the ISHRS.

Dr. James A. Harris, United States

The past President of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery (ABHRS), a Fellow Member of the ISHRS, and a Fellow Sponsor of the American College of Surgeons are clinical controllers and consultants of Hair Transplantation at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, Colorado. He has also been the principal instructor and investigator for Restoration Robotics, a company that has introduced the ARTAS System.

Dr. James is the chairman of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery’s FUE Research Committee and directs the organization’s research practices in the field of FUE. He also won the most coveted Golden Follicle Award in 2014 for important medical contributions to the domain of hair restoration. He is currently an MD at Fishers United States.

Dr. Sajjad Khan, UAE

A Diplomate of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery (ABHRS), possesses 20 years of professional experience in Hair Transplant. He is widely known to have successfully performed numerous Burn Trauma, Reconstructive, and Cancer Survivors’ Hair Transplant surgeries. Dr. Khan’s strong skills in the field helped him restore the facial features of burn patients. Dr. Khan is the pioneer behind the invention of the PMP (graft preparation) mechanism for making follicular units with an LCD-projected video scope. The mastermind is responsible for both the growth technique for density in hair transplant procedures and the depth control instrumentation.

Dr. Nilofer Farjo, Manchester

She is presently posted as Founding Director, FARJO Hair Institute (MBChB, BAO, LRCPI), and boasts 23 years of experience in the hair-related field. Recently, she was the program chair of the annual scientific meeting of the ISHRS that was held in Chicago in 2015. She is also a board member and treasurer of the European Hair Research Society (EHRS).

She was felicitated with the ISHRS Platinum Follicle Award for outstanding contribution towards hair-related scientific research in 2012. She is an expert in performing mechanized, manual, and robotic FUE, as well as strip FUT.

Dr. Antonio Ruston, Brazil

He is a pioneering plastic surgery specialist who has received accreditation from the Brazilian Society of Plastic Surgery. He is an active member of various International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery associations. Dr. Ruston has a hands-down specialization in performing a single high-volume hair transplant surgery per day, a “Megasession,” in which up to 2,500 grafts can be transplanted.

He has gathered impeccable experiences from visiting many prestigious hair transplant centers around the world and is well-esteemed and renowned all over. He has a firm belief that by utilizing existing technology and implementing his aesthetics or skills, hair restoration surgery can offer outstanding and completely natural results.

Dr. Vincenzo Gambino, Italy

Dr. Gambino is an active member of various internationally authorized medical associations. With over 25 years of experience in the industry, he is regarded as the best doctor to perform low-level laser hair loss therapy. He was the first surgeon in Italy to have performed head-to-pubic-area transplantation, and he recently spearheaded the chest-to-head-hair transplantation surgery in Italy. He initiated his specialization in hair transplantation with the Elliott-Thomas Medical Group in New York City and is presently serving a 3-year term as president of the Italian Society of Trichology ( S.I.Tri.).

Dr. Ronald Shapiro, USA

Ron Shapiro, MD, Medical Director of Shapiro Medical Group, is renowned all across the globe as an ace surgeon in the field of Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation (FUT). In 2003 and 2010, he co-authored the crucial medical text Hair Transplantation, 4th Edition (Marcel Dekker). Doctors from all over the world use this textbook, which is known as the “Bible” of hair restoration.

At their annual meeting in Sydney, Australia, the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) certified Dr. Ron with the Golden Follicle Award. This prestigious award is given for his excellent and outstanding endowment towards the advancement of the medical concept of hair transplantation surgery.
Dr. Shapiro is recognized as one of the top physicians in the hair transplantation field. There are numerous posts and listings by patients in the forums of clinical websites witnessing the surgeon’s skills and the quality of the staff at SMG.

Dr. Bessam Farjo, United Kingdom

Dr, Farzo is a Founding Director, of FARJO Hair Institute (FISHRS, MBChB, BAO, LRCPI). The specialist is recognized to have extensively performed hair restoration surgery since 1993. He is currently mastering both FUE and FUT including Robotics. He is the past co-founder and president of the British Association of Hair Restoration Surgery and the Past Board Director of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery.

Dr. Jean M. Devroye, United States

Dr. Jean has exclusively specialized in hair restoration practices for more than 10 years, which has now become his devotion. The scholarly specialist has developed a device for deriving follicular grafts. He uses two techniques of hair restoration, i.e., FUT and FUE.

Dr. Devroye was a program chair for the ISHRS European Hair Transplant Workshop in Brussels in 2014 and is also a fellow member of the Board of Governors of the ISHRS. He has been actively participating in and sponsoring several congresses and workshops around the world.

HAIRCON 2017 is the most anticipated event of the year for hair restoration experts from all over the world and patients alike. So brace up to get the most out of it and get rid of the hair loss issues.