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 Dr.
William Rassman graduated from the Medical College of Virginia
in 1966 where he received his Doctor of Medicine. He completed
a surgical internship at the University of Minnesota and obtained
a cardiovascular fellowship with Dr. C.W. Lillehei. Dr. Rassman
completed a residency in general surgery at the Cornell Medical
Center and Dartmouth Medical Center. He served in the U.S.
Army, reaching the rank of Major. He was stationed as a surgeon
in the Republic of Vietnam. The American Board of Surgery
certified Dr. Rassman in 1976.
In 1991, Dr. Rassman founded the New Hair Institute (NHI),
and quickly became a world leader in hair restoration surgery
and in hair transplant technology. This technology enables
NHI surgeons to perform hair transplants with large numbers
of grafts in single surgeries. These high graft counts were
previously thought possible only with four to ten surgeries.
His many innovations in techniques and equipment have been
presented at medical meetings around the world, and published
in industry newsletters and prestigious medical journals as
he pioneered these advances. He developed a strong stance
on the ethics involved in hair transplantation as he condemned
doctors who used salesmen to take advantage of naïve,
panicky patients. He attacked the use of scalp reductions
as an illogical and often damaging procedure that put the
patient at risk, and he debated the issues related to scalp
reduction procedures at medical meetings around the world.
Because of his adamant position on scalp reductions, the procedure
has been largely abandoned. Dr. Rassman pioneered the Megasession
in 1992-4 (he was the first to do 2000 grafts, 3000 grafts
and 4000 grafts in single sessions, reporting these advances
in the Hair Transplant Forum), dense packing of grafts, and
the Fast Track® method of hair transplantation whereby
a patient's restoration can be completed in just one or two
sessions. With Dr. Robert Bernstein, he developed techniques
that have proven to be the gold standard for hair transplantation
around the world: The Follicular Unit Transplantation. He
and Dr. Bernstein published these results in a series of peer-reviewed
articles in major medical journals.
As a professional inventor, who holds both U.S. and worldwide
patents, Dr Rassman invented the Densitometer™ for the
precise measurement of hair density and hair quality. Such
precise measurements are now the standard, required of all
ethical medical practitioners in diagnosis of the balding
patient. Three other inventions in medical instrumentation
have U.S. Patents, either granted or pending, in the hair
transplantation arena. He holds multiple patents in an artificial
heart device, other medical devices, computer software, and,
more recently, in the biochip field (patent pending), an area
where he has great interest.
Dr. Rassman has presented more than nineteen scientific papers
before national and international societies, such as the:
International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, International
Society for Hair and Scalp Surgery, Annual Global Convocation
of Hair Restoration Surgery, American Academy of Facial, Plastic
and Reconstructive Surgery, European Society of Hair Restoration
Surgery, and Merck Committee Meetings.
Dr. Rassman's dedication to the dissemination of knowledge
is clear in the more than twenty articles on hair transplantation
and related issues that he has published in highly regarded
medical publications such as: Dermatologic Surgery, International
Journal of Aesthetic and Restorative Surgery, Hair Transplant
Forum International, and Journal of Dermatology, Surgery,
and Oncology. In 2001, NHI published the sixth edition of
The Patient's Guide to Hair Restoration. This book explains,
in layman's language, what causes baldness, how baldness is
diagnosed, the best medical and surgical options available
today, the proper use of medication, and how to repair the
poor results of older surgical procedures. The Patient's Guide's
extensive photo section includes more than 100 color photographs
of patients in various stages of hair restoration.
Dr. Rassman continues to push the state of the art in hair
transplantation forward. In the summer of 2001, he announced
a breakthrough in the field: Follicular Unit Extraction™
(FUE™). In this technique, individual follicular units
are extracted directly from the donor area without the traditional
linear incision in the back of the scalp. An enabling technology,
presently in a 'patent pending' status, has been developed
to make this breakthrough more practical. The advantages of
FUE™ are that these procedures can be performed on patients
with very limited donor hair, and, healing is fast, without
visible scarring in the donor area.
Dr. Rassman is motivated to make a difference in whatever
he does. He strives to be the best and is never satisfied
with the status quo. He is a visionary and has never allowed
his goals to be limited by current thought on any subject.
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