Bradley R. Wolf M.D. was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was raised on a farm in nearby Indiana. Dr. Wolf received his undergraduate degree from the Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana with a double major, in Biology and Chemistry. He graduated from Indiana University School of Medicine at Indianapolis in 1980. After two years of General Surgery residency at Eastern University Graduate School of Medicine in Norfolk, Virginia he began a career in Emergency Medicine.
Dr. Wolf has been board certified in Emergency Medicine having practiced that specialty for nine years. During that time he performed hundreds of facial, head, and neck laceration repairs. During his training in medical school and residency he received training in plastic surgery and performed numerous skin grafts for burns and trauma. In January of 1998, he became board certified by the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery.
Since 1990, Dr. Wolf has practiced surgical hair restoration exclusively. In 1992 he became the Medical Director of a group of 13 clinics. From 1990 until 1994 he trained numerous physicians and surgical assistants his methods of hair restoration. He developed a nationwide quality assurance program for these clinics. Dr. Wolf has also trained doctors from Czech Republic, Belgium, Switzerland and Ireland to use his microsurgical techniques. He has presented over 35 lectures at meetings and workshops throughout the world, was director of all workshops at the 2002 ISHRS meeting, director of the Hands-on FUE workshop at the 2012 ISHRS meeting, and served as faculty at eight other ISHRS workshops. He is the author of the Anesthesia chapter in the 5th Edition of Hair Transplantation. In 1997 Dr. Wolf was awarded a Research Grant by the ISHRS. A past member of the ISHRS Ethics and Website committees, he is a current member of the CME committee. He was awarded first place for poster presentation at the 1999 ISHRS meeting in San Francisco and second place at the 2012 ISHRS meeting in the Bahamas.
Dr. Wolf is dedicated to providing the highest quality hair transplantation results available. Patients travel from all over the country to his clinic is Cincinnati. He does not perform a high volume of procedures but rather consistently stresses quality during each case. In the past Dr. Wolf traveled to multiple locations to perform hair restoration procedures. He has found that it is best if patients travel to his custom designed office in Cincinnati. In Cincinnati, Dr. Wolf maintains consistency in factors important to assuring the highest quality treatment available. His permanent staff is patient oriented and they take no shortcuts. Dr. Wolf participates in every procedure and personally places many of the grafts into the scalp, assuring that the grafts are placed perfectly.
Dr. Wolf takes the time with each patient to insure their satisfaction. On each surgery day only one procedure is performed. There is no rush to perform the surgery and no “assembly line” situation. Experience has shown that the best results are created when undivided attention is given to each and every hair follicle.
Professional Highlights:
Bradley Wolf MD has performed hair restoration surgery exclusively since 1990 and has presented over 100 lectures at hair restoration meetings throughout the world. He has attended 26 of 30 ISHRS annual meetings and has served as columnist (2014-2016) then Co-Editor of Hair Transplant Forum International (2017-2019), Program Chair of the 2020 annual ISHRS World Congress, ISHRS Secretary (2020-2022), ISHRS Vice-President (2022-2023, and is currently ISHRS President (as of 2023). He has been of the vanguard of developments in the field including the early adoption of strip microdissection, large numbers of small grafts, and the early use of FUE.
Curriculum Vitae:
Education
Undergraduate – Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
Bachelor of Arts and Sciences
Majors: Biology and Chemistry
1972 – 1976
Medical School – Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana
Doctor of Medicine
1976 – 1980
Internship – General Surgery
1980 – 1981
Residency – Eastern Virginia Graduate School of Medicine, Norfolk, Virginia
General Surgery
1981 – 1982
Board Certification
Diplomate – American Board of Emergency Medicine, 1989-1999
American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery 1999-2019; past oral examiner, past director, and past member of ABHRS Board of Directors 2000-2005
Medical Licenses
Ohio #35-052721
ISHRS (International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery) Service and Positions
- Joined at the first ISHRS meeting in Dallas 1993 – 27 meetings attended
- 2023-2024 – ISHRS President
- 2022-2023 – Vice President ISHRS and Co-Chair – Communication and Public Education Committee
- 2020-2022 – Secretary and Board of Governors – ISHRS
- 2020 – Program Chair – ISHRS Annual Meeting – Virtual
- 2017-2019 – Co-Editor – Hair Transplant Forum International
- 2014-2016 – Columnist and author of “Cyberspace Chat” Column – Hair Transplant Forum International
- 2002 and 2019 – Director of All Workshops at ISHRS Annual meetings – Chicago 2002 and Bangkok 2019
- 2012 – Director of FUE Cadaver Workshops – ISHRS Annual meeting – Bahamas
- Faculty at numerous other workshops including FUE workshops, basics course, ABHRS Board Review course, hairline workshops.
- Received 3 ribbons for poster presentations at ISHRS Annual meetings – 1st place San Francisco 1999, 2nd place Bahamas 2012, 3rd place Montreal 2008
- 1997 – ISHRS Research grant award
Author of numerous Hair Transplant Forum articles
- 2014-2020 – Authored original columns in 42 consecutive editions of Hair Transplant Forum International as Forum Columnist, Forum Co-Editor, and Program Chair of ISHRS 2020 World Congress (Virtual)
Faculty at ISHRS associated Live Surgery Workshops:
- Denver/Harris FUE Workshop (twice)
- 2012 and 2013 – St. Louis University (Sam Lam) Hands-on Cadaver Lab and meeting
- 2014 – Brussels, Belgium – ISHRS European Live Surgery Workshop
- 2017 – Polancia, Poland – ISHRS Live Surgery Workshop
- 2018 – Dubai, UAE – ISHRS Live Surgery Workshop
- 2019 – Bangkok, Thailand – ISHRS Live Surgery Workshop
- Gave at least 100 presentations at hair restoration meetings since 1998.
One of 7 ISHRS members who have served as:
- ISHRS President
- Co-Editor of Hair Transplant Forum International (2017-2019)
- Program Chair of Annual Meeting (Virtual 2020)
Others include Dow Stough, Russell Knudsen, Nilofer Fargo, Paco Jimenez, Bob Haber, Jerry Cooley
Other Professional Associations
Procter and Gamble Co. – Consultant since 2007 in Cincinnati and Singapore (2013), Co-Author of landmark genomics study examining FUE and FUT grafts. Established FUE as the standard biopsy technique to collect specimens used by P&G in Cincinnati for genetic studies on the scalp.
Life outside of medicine
Hair Transplant Forum, November-December, 2000, by Jim Harris, M.D.
Some people wish to relive the pleasures or memories of their youth. Bradley R. Wolf, MD, has done more than wish, he has made his desires a reality. Dr. Wolf spent 12 years of his youth on 116 acres of land in rural Indiana, where his family raised beef cattle, Herefords, and German Shepherds. While his recollections of baling hay, digging fencepost holes, cutting firewood, and tending to the cattle remind him of the physical nature of this type of life, he also has the memories of the other side, the stability of a rural setting (he had the same school bus driver for 12 years). The farm is still owned by the family to this day. The work that typified his day not only provides the recollections of hard physical labor but also instilled a work ethic that firmly places rewards, both personal and professional, within the reach of those who work hard enough.
Dr. Wolf eventually left the farm, perhaps looking for those things that the country life couldn’t provide. After 20 years and living in different cities around the country, he found what would allow a return to his “roots,” 25 acres of land. Dr. Wolf currently lives on this property where he has built his horse farm near his practice in Cincinnati, Ohio. He says that many of the ideas he has written about regarding hair transplantation have come to him while riding his tractor and tending to farm chores.
He also relishes the time spent with his four horses. Not just for the enjoyment of riding, but for what he can gain from watching them. Caring for them requires the ability to sense the status of their health from observing them. He feels that he has been able to develop this ability and that this has helped him in his practice as he is more acutely attuned to the psychological well being of his patients and the non verbal messages that the patient may be expressing.
In addition to his four horses, four cats, and a significant amount of yard work, Dr. Wolf picks up a polo mallet and plays in an occasional polo match. He was raised in a polo playing family and has been riding horses since he could walk. Dr. Wolf describes polo as a sport unto itself involving all the aspects of competition including offense, defense, strategy, team play, and technical aspects such as ball striking and horsemanship. The player not only has to know about the sport, but about the horse and its care as well. He describes the unique exhilaration of riding a speeding thoroughbred full speed and leaning over to hit a ball through goalposts for a score. Although polo is an important part of his life, personal and professional demands have diminished the amount of time he can devote to this. It is doubtful that the memories of the smell of leather, the camaraderie, the physical activity, and the union with the horse will soon be forgotten. He feels fortunate that he had the opportunity to be a participant in this sport.
Dr.Wolf sees many things that hair transplantation and farming share. He envisions both with crops of sorts, the planting involving hard work and patience. The realization of the fruits of labor emerging on different types of fields gives the sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. Dr. Wolf has been in the field of hair restoration for over twenty years, enjoying the diversity of what seems to be a very focused specialty. Taking what he has studied in biology, chemistry, physics, medicine, art, and architecture, along with the mechanical and agricultural lessons learned on the farm. Dr. Wolf has been able to provide the entire hair transplant community with a unique and truly valuable perspective: the view from the tractor.
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