Institution: University of Glasgow

Location: Glasgow and surrounding area

Closing date: Ongoing

The Alopecia Biobank is collecting samples of blood, skin swabs, skin biopsies and stool from volunteers with AA, AT and AU, to investigate how immune cells cause hair loss. The team are also looking for samples from people with non-inflammatory alopecia (i.e. male and female pattern hair loss), for comparison purposes. The initial aim of the project is to discover which immune cells are different in people with AA, AU, AT compared to the other groups. The team will then investigate how these cells alter the immune response in the blood, skin and intestine of people with these conditions. They will also aim to look at the bacteria within the stool and skin swab samples to see how these may differ and contribute to hair loss in AA, AT, and AU.

The team aim to use these tests to find the factors of the immune system that are most important in causing alopecia areata, alopecia totalis, and alopecia universalis.

If you live in the Glasgow area and are interested in being a part of this study, please click here for more information of how to take part.

Interested scientists can apply for access to samples from the Biobank by contacting Professor Milling at the University of Glasgow. 

Updates from the Biobank:

Kym wrote blog posts for us to keep us updated on the outcomes of her research project, which used samples from the Biobank. These are available here:

Time for T-cells (November 2018)

Making sense of molecules (June 2019)

Her project is now finished, but the Biobank continues to operate.