Our mission

Purpose

The International Federation Hair Research Societies (IFHRS) is a worldwide federation dedicated to the promotion of international cooperation in basic and clinical hair science and technology.

Mission

The mission of IFHRS is to build upon the goals and aspirations of the growing number of IFHRS member societies in order to advance and share world-wide knowledge of hair structure, chemistry, and biogenesis in health and disease.

Strategy

The IFHRS strategy is to create an interactive digital platform between scientists, clinicians, experts, and young specialists and to provide leadership and governance on the biannual world congress meetings.

Our history

Through these societies’ activities, the field of hair research has grown and made important scientific advances beyond this discipline

1989

Pioneer European Hair Research Society celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2019. Dominique van Neste organised its first meeting in Brussels, and its first president, Rodney Dawber, inspired both clinical research and the study of hair fibre science. Early developmental biology pioneers, Colin Jahoda and Roy Oliver, showed how important the dermal papilla is for hair regeneration, now a substantial area of innovation all over the world.

1990

American Hair Research Society (1990) held its founders meeting with a group of 13 dermatologists dedicated to furthering research in hair-related disorders. The late David Whiting instilled the importance of the scalp biopsy in diagnosing causes of hair shedding and more recently, stem cell biology research ‘borrowed’ the hair follicle after the significance of the ‘bulge’ was proposed by George Cotsarelis in the early 1990’s leading to the understanding of stem cells in skin.

1993

Society for Hair Science Research-Japan (1993) founded by Hideoki Ogawa, has since encouraged strong international collaboration and researcher exchanges, with important emphasis on developing approaches to treatments for hair loss through understanding the potential of dermal papilla cells in regenerative medicine.

1995

Australasian Hair and Wool Research Society (1995) founded by Rod Sinclair, George Rogers and Les Jones, spurred on by the growth and commercial importance of the wool industry in Australia and New Zealand is still contributing the basis for understanding fibre structure and texture, as well as providing some of the earliest studies in the biology of the follicle.

1995

The first Intercontinental Meeting of Hair Research Societies (IMHRS) was hosted by the European Hair Research Society, with Congress President, Dominique van Neste 1995 in Brussels, Belgium. There were five participating hair research societies including: European Hair Research Society (EHRS) (founded 1989), the American Hair Research Society [at the time was the North American Hair Research Society (NAHRS), founded 1989], The Society for Hair Science Research (SHSR) (Japan, founded 1993), Australasian Hair and Wool Research Society (AHWRS) (founded 1997), and Korean Hair Research Society (KHRS) (founded 1998). The clinical, basic and industry scientist-members of these organizationsьparticipated as lecturers and attendees.

1998

Korean Hair Research Society (1998), founded by dermatologist Byung In Ro, originally as part of the Korean Dermatological Association and then as an independent society in 2004. Won Soo Lee has since ensured the Korean hair research community made a global impact through a World Congress in 2014 and advances in clinical evaluation methods for androgenetic alopecia, relevant in South East Asia.

2013

In 2013, the 5 hair research societies, including European Hair Research Society; (EHRS), American Hair Research Society (AHRS), the Society for Hair Science Research (SHSR), Australasian Hair and Wool Research Society (AHWRS), and Korean Hair Research Society (KHRS) joined together to establish the IFHRS.

2019

UHRS IN IFHRS. The World Congress for Hair Research WCHR2019 in Sitges (Spain) become historical milestones for the UHRS, at which the Ukrainian Hair Research Society was accepted by the Board of the International Federation of Hair Research Societies (IFHRS) into the international trichological family. IFHRS membership for all UHRS members, is the greatest honor and award, which will give us an incentive to further improve our activities in the field of the national trichology, to promote and implement the ideas of the leading international hair research societies and make a contribution into the development of the hair science and give the IFHRS an opportunity to expand its geographic areal of fundamental and clinical research of hair.

2020

RHRS AND CHRS IN IFHRS

Historical Perspectives

Building the Global Hair Research Community
Prof. Won-Soo Lee, WCHR 2026, Seoul. Reproduced with permission.