Hairs of the human scalp and wool grown by sheep have a common fundamental biology. Humans and sheep share some peculiarities in regard to hair, for example, the comparatively prolonged growing phase of the hair cycle resulting in long, uniform, roughly cylindrical fibres. Thus, advances made in basic hair research can be relevant to applications in medicine, or hair care or the wool industry. Australia and New Zealand have a long and proud history of achievement in the scientific study of wool which has contributed to the foundation for our current knowledge of hair biology and structure.
Areas of interest
- The treatment of female pattern hair loss with oral anti-androgens
- Hair and skin photochemistry
- Isolation, culture, and re-implantation of hair follicle dermal papilla cells as a model for cell based therapies
- Changing hair morphology: new reagents for hair straightening, and improving hair feel and lustre
- Bioprospecting keratinous materials
- Isolation of bio-active peptides for preventative health
- Keratin intermediate filaments in tissue repair
- Developing new techniques for improving hair transplants
- Hair and wool structural biology
- Proteomics and protein chemistry
- Hair chemorheology, appearance and damage
- Bio-based Materials
- Hair and skin product formulation
- Skin testing analysis and nail assessment experiments
- Hair follicle gene expression studies and bioinformatics
- Keratin composition of hair and wool fibres
- Topo-biology of wool and hair growth
- Hair and wool endocrinology
- Wool follicle physiology and metabolism
- Bio-harvesting of wool
- Hair/wool follicle development and hair cycles
- In vivo and ex vivo models
- Comparative hair biology
- Hair and wool gene expression
- Wool molecular biology
- Follicle stem cells
- Dermal cell transdifferentiation
- Hair transplant surgery
- The molecular basis of hair follicle immune privilege
- The genetic basis of female pattern hair loss