Our history
Founding of HSF, Inc.
In 2005, Mrs. Michele Barlow, a patient from San Diego, CA, USA, organized first funding to initiate the Hidradenitis Suppurativa Foundation, Inc. (HSF, Inc.), a tax-deducted organization according to the US law. In addition to Mrs. Barlow as president and co-founder, the first board of HSF Inc. included, among others, Prof. Dr. Ralf Paus, Luebeck, Germany, director of basic research and co-founder, Prof. Dr. Christos C. Zouboulis, Dessau, Germany, director of clinical research and co-founder, Mrs. Christine E. Pasela, San Diego, CA, USA, Mrs. Sylvia Shawcross, Chelsea, Quebec, Canada, Mrs. Mary Veta, San Diego, CA, USA, and Mrs. Lynn Edward Wedell, San Diego, CA, USA. Experimental Dermatology became the official scientific journal of the HSF, Inc.
1st International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Research Symposium
The 1st International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Research Symposium took place on 30.03 – 02.04.2006 in Dessau, Germany. The milestones of the Symposium were the so-called Dessauer definition of the disease and the HSF 2006 Outstanding Investigator Award presented to Prof. Gregor B. Jemec. The attendees of this legendary meeting were Dr. David R. Adams, USA; Dr. Andreas Altenburg, Germany; Mrs. Michelle Barlow, USA; Dr. Martina Brunner, Germany; Dr. George Cotsarelis, USA; Dr. William Danby, USA; Dr. Alain Dupuy, France; Dr. Sabine Fimmel, Germany; Dr. Wolfgang Hartschuh, Germany; Dr. Dolores Herreros, Spain; Dr. Dorothee Hochheim, Germany; Dr. Peter Hull, Canada; Dr. Gregor Jemec, Denmark; Dr. Yvonne Kroening, Germany; Dr. Ichiro Kurokawa, Japan; Dr. Hjalmar Kurzen, Germany; Dr. Evgenia Makrantonaki, Germany; Dr. Anirban Mandal, UK; Dr. Lynette Margesson, USA; Dr. Wolfgang C. Marsch, Germany; Dr. W.H. Irwin McLean, Scotland; Dr. Samuel L. Moschella, USA; Dr. Ralf Paus, Germany; Dr. Uppala Radhakrishna, USA; Dr. Jean Revuz, France; Dr. Jihai Shi, Germany; Dr. Rodney Sinclair, Australia; Dr. John Sundberg, USA; Dr. Gilles Tachon, France; Dr. Antje Thielitz, Germany; Dr. Athanasios Theodoridis, Germany; Dr. Frangiski Tsatsou, Germany; Dr. Jan von der Werth, UK; and Dr. Christos C. Zouboulis, Germany.
The 2nd International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Research Symposium took place on 05.03.2009 in San Francisco, IL, USA.
New board elected
On 15.02.2012 a new board was elected with Prof. Dr. Christos C. Zouboulis, Dessau, Germany, President and responsible for hidradenitis suppurativa/acne inversa guidelines, Prof. Gregor B.E. Jemec, Copenhagen, Denmark, vice president and responsible for clinical research, Prof. Dr. Ralf Paus, Luebeck, Germany / Manchester, UK, vice president and responsible for experimental research, Mrs. Michelle Barlow, San Diego, CA, USA (former president, ex oficio), treasurer and responsible for the Foundation, Prof. Richard Gallo, San Diego, CA, USA, Dr. Ichiro Kurokawa, Nishinomiya, Japan, Dr. George Varigos, Melbourne, Australia, Dr. Jan Lapins, Stockholm, Sweden, Dr. Paul Hazen, Westlake, OH, USA, responsible for patients` communication and for the HSF Inc. website, Thomas Winkler, Germany, patients’ representative, president Deutsche Interessengemeinschaft Akne inversa e.V., and Dr. Hessel H. van der See, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Despite the excellent and close cooperation among the involved scientists, the European Board members have recognized that bureaucratic issues in the USA made it more and more difficult for non-US citizens to run efficiently a US association. Therefore, Prof. Zouboulis resigned as HSF, Inc. president and member of the board on 27.02.2013 followed by Prof. Paus, leaving the leadership of the HSF, Inc. to US colleagues with Dr. Paul Hazen as new HSF, Inc. president from 02.03.2013. During its first meeting on 24.03.2014 the new HSF, Inc. board has granted Mrs. Michelle Barlow, Prof. Christos C. Zouboulis and Prof. Ralf Paus the honorary Founders Membership.
Inauguration of EHSF e.V.
The European Hidradenitis Suppurativa Foundation e.V. (EHSF e.V.) has been inaugurated on 29.09.2012 in Prague, Czech Republic as independent, sister society of HSF, Inc. The EHSF e.V. has been registered and recognized as a non-profit, public benefit organization (gemeinnuetziger e.V.) according to the German law. General assemblies, take place annually during the annual International Conference of the Society.
Founding Members
Congresses
The 3rd International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Research Symposium (first of the EHSF e.V.) took place on 27.-28.02.2014 in Brussels, Belgium.
The 4th International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Research Symposium took place on 19.-20.02.2015 in Brussels, Belgium.
The 5th International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Conference, which was for the first time also open for non-members of the Society, took place on 10.-12.02.2016 in Berlin, Germany with 192 participants and 76 scientific contributions.
The 6th International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Conference took place on 8.-10.02.2017 in Copenhagen, Denmark with 202 participants and 77 scientific contributions.
The 7th International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Conference took place on 10.-12.02.2018 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands with more than 250 participants and 82 scientific contributions.
The 8th International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Conference took place on 10.-12.02.2019 in Wroclaw, Poland with 406 participants and 119 scientific contributions.
The 9th International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Conference took place on
5.-7.02.2020 in Athens, Greece. 422 participants from 48 countries with
137 scientific contributions participared at the conference.
The 10th International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Conference took
place – due to the COVID-19 pandemic at a digital mode – on 10.-12.02.2021. 688 participants from 52 countries with
141 scientific contributions participared at the conference.
The 11th International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Conference also took
place at a digital mode on 09.-11.02.2022. 598 participants from 48 countries with
150 scientific contributions participared at the conference.
The 12th International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Conference will take
place in Florence, Italy at a hybrid mode on February
8-10, 2023. Please look at www.ehsf2023.com.