The Steven and Michele Kirsch Foundation is committed to a wide spectrum of issues and causes that reflects the broad charitable interests of its two founders. In December 2002, The Kirsch Foundation awarded a two-year collaborative grant to Drs. Christiano and Jahoda for the Catalyst For Hair Follicle Biology (CHFB) project. 

Readers who frequent HairSite are all familiar with the work of the world's two leading follicle biologists: Angela Christiano, Ph.D. (Columbia University, New York) and Colin Jahoda, Ph.D. (Durham University, England).

The two-year program totals $230,000 in funding. Anyone interested in donating money to the two researchers for this collaborative project can do so directly. 

Under normal circumstances, individual donations are typically subject to administrative or overhead charges by the institution the researchers are associated with. In other words, very rarely will 100% of your donations go directly to the designated research of your choice. 

However, in the case of the CHFB collaborative award program that is being funded by the Kirsch Foundation, the public can now match the foundation's two-year $230,000 funding with assurance that 100% of the "matching donations" will be designated strictly for CHFB research. Please do not be confused that your donations have to match Kirsch Foundation's lump sum contribution of $230,000. Donations from the public can be as little as $5, $10 or whatever amounts you decide to pledge. 

Individuals from around the world are welcome to contribute to this program. While U.S. residents can send their donations (checks or money orders) to Dr. Christiano's laboratory at Columbia University, New York, residents in the U.K. or Europe can send their donations to Dr. Jahoda's laboratory at Durham University, Scotland. All donations will go to the same research program. If you feel more comfortable sending donations to one location versus another, that is totally acceptable and will not affect how the donations will be utilized. 

In order to be certain that your donations will NOT be subject to either university's overhead charge, it is very important that you mark clearly on your donations, eg: on your checks or money orders, that the contribution is:

Failure to clearly earmark the purpose of the donation as noted above may defeat the purpose of your intention.

The following is a synopsis about the Catalyst For Hair Follicle Biology (CHFB) program according to the Kirsch Foundation. Readers are encouraged to check Kirsch Foundation's website regularly for progress reports and updates about the CHFB project.

• Angela M. Christiano, PhD (Columbia University, New York)
  "We are very grateful to the Kirsch foundation for its support of hair research. It is not often that scientists in our field have the privilege of being sponsored by such a prestigious organization. We are now in a unique position to make great strides in our work, as a direct result of this commitment.”
  
• Colin A. B. Jahoda, PhD (Durham University, Scotland)
  "This is an outstanding opportunity to tackle a human condition that is of widespread concern for individuals and poses genuinely interesting scientific challenges. The foundation has helped to fill a void in funding that will allow us to bring a direct and unfettered approach to the research. The collaborative element is crucial in bringing together distinctive but complementary skills and technologies, as well as beneficial individual interactions. This has to be a good way of doing science."

This consortium funding offers the potential to build upon the results that Dr. Christiano and Dr. Colin Jahoda have achieved through their informal collaboration thus far. As a result of publicity about Dr. Jahoda’s work, there have been a number of lucrative offers to market human hair loss "cures" from commercial sources. Both Drs. Jahoda and Christiano, however, believe that developing the research for therapeutic purposes should be done on an independent scientific basis. Unfortunately, given that NIH considers this to be a 'cosmetic' problem, few, if any, federal funds are available. We hope that by encouraging and supporting an effective collaboration, we will add real value to the work being conducted in these laboratories and send a positive message that can be leveraged into funding from other sources.

The CHFB consortium will apply the emerging technologies of developmental biology, stem cell biology and tissue engineering to the induction of new hair follicles. The investigators have pioneered methods for the culture of hair follicle cells, and Dr. Jahoda was the first individual to demonstrate that new hair follicles can be induced to form in adult skin by implantation of cultured cells. Up to now, work has mainly been performed in animal models, and the induction of human hair follicles poses specific challenges relating to human hair follicle biology. The major focus of the CHFB is to establish that new human hair follicles can be created from cultured cells in adult human skin using transplantation techniques. The overall goal is the unequivocal demonstration that cultured human cells can induce new follicle formation and hair growth in human skin. Ultimately the hope is that the research can be used successfully to cure such conditions as premature balding and alopecia areata and offer solutions for hair loss due to chemotherapy.

Serving as an advisor to the consortium is Dr. Cheng-Ming Chuong, Professor of Pathology at the University of Southern California.

"Hair is the only place in the body that continues to shed and regenerate. It has a large pool of stem cells that maintains throughout our lives. It is like the fountain of youth. We need to learn how to use it. Drs. Jahoda and Christiano make up the dream team in hair biology research. Interesting new findings will emerge from this collaboration. I am thrilled that the Kirsch Foundation can support this endeavor. I am excited to see what will come out."

The researchers are eager to move forward with their joint work. Features on the work of each investigator and updates on their progress will be provided from time to time and will be announced in the "what's new" section of this website

Dr. Christiano & Dr. Jahoda may answer a small number of questions about 
this project. If you have any questions for either researcher, please post 
them in the forum below

RESEARCH & HAIR MULTIPLICATION FORUM

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