Medical Research at Crown Clinic
For over a decade, Dr. Asim Shahmalak has partnered with the University of Manchester’s Centre for Dermatology Research, contributing patient tissue, clinical insight and co-authorship to studies reshaping how the world understands the human hair follicle.
- 40+
- Peer-reviewed publications co-authored
- 7
- Peer-reviewed publications
- 2018
- PLOS Biology landmark study
- 2
- Days to visible follicle growth
Studying the hair follicle as a miniature organ
The team’s pioneering work looked into hair follicle biology, specifically what influences hair growth and the role of epithelial stem cell populations.
They investigated the biology and pathology of the hair follicle as a microcosmic mini-organ in which many of the fundamental problems of biology can be studied in an exemplary fashion. Research included the neuroendocrine properties of the human hair follicle, their impact on mitochondrial function and follicle immune status, and the use of adult stem cell populations associated with human skin appendages for regenerative medicine.
The Manchester project, led by Dr. Nathan Hawkshaw and colleagues, published its findings in May 2018. A drug originally designed to treat osteoporosis has a dramatic stimulatory effect on human hair follicles donated by patients undergoing transplantation surgery.
Dr. Asim Shahmalak
Hair transplant surgeon, Crown Clinic. Honorary teacher and examiner at the University of Liverpool.
A brittle-bone drug that wakes the follicle
Only two drugs, Minoxidil and Finasteride, are currently licensed for male pattern baldness. The only other option is transplantation surgery, so the Manchester team sought new ways to promote human hair growth.
They found that WAY-316606, used to treat brittle bones, blocks a naturally occurring protein that suppresses growth and induces baldness. Follicles donated by more than 40 balding men under Dr. Shahmalak’s care began sprouting hair within days of treatment.
“In lab tests, the drug started promoting growth in hair follicles in just two days – that’s pretty quick.”
Dr. Nathan Hawkshaw · University of Manchester
Medical research and references
Peer-reviewed publications co-authored with tissue and clinical support from Crown Clinic, indexed on PubMed.
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PMID 31512803 (opens PubMed in a new tab)
CDK4/6 inhibition mitigates stem cell damage in a novel model for taxane-induced alopecia
EMBO Mol Med. 2019 Oct;11(10):e11031
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PMID 29738529 (opens PubMed in a new tab)
Identifying novel strategies for treating human hair loss disorders: Cyclosporine A suppresses the Wnt inhibitor, SFRP1, in the dermal papilla of human scalp hair follicles
PLoS Biol. 2018 May 8;16(5):e2003705
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PMID 31233759 (opens PubMed in a new tab)
Human Perifollicular Macrophages Undergo Apoptosis, Express Wnt Ligands, and Switch their Polarization during Catagen
J Invest Dermatol. 2019 Dec;139(12):2543-2546
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PMID 25418064 (opens PubMed in a new tab)
Differential expression and functionality of ATP-binding cassette transporters in the human hair follicle
Br J Dermatol. 2015 Jun;172(6):1562-1572
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PMID 25808706 (opens PubMed in a new tab)
Mapping the expression of epithelial hair follicle stem cell-related transcription factors LHX2 and SOX9 in the human hair follicle
Exp Dermatol. 2015 Jun;24(6):462-7
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PMID 25826423 (opens PubMed in a new tab)
Re-Evaluating Cyclosporine A as a Hair Growth-Promoting Agent in Human Scalp Hair Follicles
J Invest Dermatol. 2015 Aug;135(8):2129-2132
