Every year, the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) hosts its annual World Congress events. I have covered every one of these gatherings since this blog was incepted in 2013. Hundreds of hair transplant surgeon ISHRS members and numerous renowned hair loss researchers attend these Congresses.
ISHRS 34th World Congress in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery’s 34th Annual World Congress runs from October 15-October 17, 2026 in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).
The link to the Final Program Guide is always worth a read.
The majority of the topics and sessions at these meetings focus on hair transplants. However, many other subjects are always thoroughly covered, including hair loss medications, regenerative medicine, stem cells, exosomes, PRP and LLLT.
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- The “Norwood Lecture” covers hyperbaric oxygen therapy and its relation to inflammation control and cell regeneration. I doubt it has any major benefit when it comes to hair growth or regrowth. A bit of a strange choice.
- The “Stough Lecture” by Dr. Maria Hordinsky is titled: “Phase 3 SCALP Clinical Trial Program Evaluating Topical Clascoterone 5% Solution for Androgenetic Alopecia (AGA)”. This is great news, and I expect the US FDA to approve this novel androgen receptor antagonist to treat AGA in 2027. It will only be the third ever hair loss drug approved in the US after Minoxidil (1988) and Finasteride (1997). In April 2026, Cosmo Pharmaceuticals (Ireland) announced positive Phase 3 trial results for 5% topical clascoterone in treating AGA.
- The “Advances in Hair Biology Lecture” is titled: “Bridging Data and Tissue: Bioinformatics and 3D Bioengineering for Next-Generation Hair Follicle Research.”
Presentations of Interest
Renowned dermatologist and trichologist Dr. Dirlene Roth (Brazil) will present on scalp microinfusion of hair loss drugs. And on a related note, Dr. Pablo Cirino (Brazil) will present on the increasingly popular Combined Regenerative Technique (CRT) of subcutaneously delivering hair loss drugs directly to the scalp.
Dr. Xi Chua from China has an interesting presentation titled “Functional Regeneration Strategies of Hair Follicles:
Advances and Challenges.” She co-authored a paper with the same title in 2025.
Of special interest is Guatamela-based HairClone (UK) partner Dr. Marie Schambach’s talk on October 16th. It is part of the 8:00am-9.30am focussed session. HairClone CEO Dr. Paul Kemp emailed me last month and said the following:
“Just wanted to let you know that Dr Schambach will be presenting the first 12 week time point of our clinical studies with AFC-001. I can’t give details ahead of her talk, but as you know, I have been in the cell therapy field for hair restoration for many years and these results on our first 8 patients are really encouraging.”
Nothing from Pelage Pharmaceuticals (US) or Veradermics (US), though both companies are just beginning Phase 3 clinical trials as we speak.
ISHRS Social Media Pages
Make sure to check out the official ISHRS social media pages for the most important updates. Also check out #ISHRS2025 for reports from Congress attendees.
