President and Vice President
The Institute of Trichologists has a Key Personnel in the form of a President Emeritus, President and Vice-President, as well as a board of directors. The board of directors is made up of a selection of committed Trichologists, all with different unique specialities, who are responsible for the development and maintenance of different aspects of the Institute, with our Members at the forefront of everything we do.
Professor Andrew Messenger MBBS MD FRCP
President
Professor Andrew Messenger is a semi-retired clinical dermatologist. He has had a clinical and research interest in hair disease for many years, including alopecia areata, female pattern hair loss and frontal fibrosing alopecia. Andrew was president of the European Hair Research Society 2004-6, of the North of England Dermatological Society 2008-9 and has been president of the Institute of Trichologists since 2009. Andrew was also Chair of the 7th World Congress for Hair Research in 2013.
Dr Claire Higgins BSc PhD
Vice-President
Dr Higgins is a Reader in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine in the Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London. She joined Imperial College in 2014 to establish her own research group after postdoctoral training at Columbia University, USA, and postgraduate studies at the University of Durham, UK. Her research group focuses on skin regeneration after injury, and in particular the role of the hair follicle in this process. She is the Secretary of the European Hair Research Society (EHRS), Vice President of the Institute of Trichologists and the Chair of the Organising committee for the EHRS2023.
