Born in Drohobycz, Poland
Survives the Holocaust and fights as a partisan.
In memory of Adam Lewenberg, MD · 1932–2019
Dr. Adam Lewenberg and the minoxidil years
Long before compounded hair-loss formulas were sold online, a Manhattan physician was mixing minoxidil with tretinoin and asking a simple question: what if absorption, not the drug, was the limit?
Minoxidil+Tretinoin (all-trans retinoic acid)→regrowth across the scalp
Biography
From Drohobycz to the Upper East Side
Adam Lewenberg was born on April 19, 1932, in Drohobycz, Poland. He survived the Holocaust and fought as a partisan, then went on to study medicine, graduating in 1957.
He trained in internal medicine and pathology at Tel Hashomer Hospital in Israel and served about two and a half years as a physician in the Israeli Navy, followed by a posting at a border station on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem. After work in private hospitals in Israel and a stint as a ship's doctor on a Los Angeles to Acapulco cruise line, he came to New York, completed a second residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center, and opened a private practice that grew from Co-op City in the Bronx to Manhattan.
He never stayed in one lane. He studied acupuncture in Hong Kong in 1973 and became president of the American Acupuncture Association, and he was known as an innovator in addiction treatment, pain management and cosmetic medicine. Hair regrowth became the work he was best known for. He was among the first doctors to prescribe minoxidil for hair loss in private practice, beginning in the early 1980s, before Upjohn's Rogaine reached pharmacy shelves, and he was a Life Member of the New York Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Lewenberg died on February 26, 2019, at 86.
1932
1957
Medical degree
Graduates in medicine, then trains at Tel Hashomer Hospital and serves as a physician in the Israeli Navy.
1960s–70s
New York practice
Completes a residency at Mount Sinai and opens a practice in Co-op City, later Manhattan. Studies acupuncture in Hong Kong in 1973 and leads the American Acupuncture Association.
Early 1980s
First minoxidil patients
Begins treating hair loss with topical minoxidil, years before an approved product existed.
1986
The combination formula
Develops what became Dr. Lewenberg's Formula, pairing minoxidil with tretinoin. The same year, Bazzano and colleagues publish the first controlled data on the combination in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
1991
First Advances in Therapy paper
Reports his results treating alopecia with the minoxidil-tretinoin combination.
1996
Second Advances in Therapy paper
Publishes his two-year study on how often, how much and how the combination should be applied.
Late 1990s
baldspot.com goes online
Built by Scott Hoffman's Media Connection of New York (mcny.com), baldspot.com becomes one of the earliest doctor-run hair-loss destinations on the web.
2010s
Hair loss after cancer
Extends his work to patients regrowing hair after chemotherapy and hormone therapy, from offices at 184 East 70th Street and later 575 Lexington Avenue.
2019
Dies at 86
Dr. Lewenberg died in New York on February 26, 2019.
A personal note
Client, mentor and friend
I had the honor of helping Dr. Lewenberg build his first website, baldspot.com. My company, Media Connection of New York, one of the first internet development firms, designed and built the site. I also handled his marketing, which included write-ups in magazines like GQ and Esquire.
He was my client, my mentor and my friend. Working beside him, I learned about hair loss from a physician who had been treating it longer than almost anyone. I spoke with many of his patients about what they were going through and what they needed.
Those conversations are where Regrowth.com came from. Much of what I have built since, including Regenepure, traces back to what I learned in his practice. He was a survivor, a doctor and a stubborn innovator, and he was generous with what he knew. This site is my thank-you.
Scott Blaine Hoffman, founder of Regrowth.com and Regenepure
His published work
Two papers in Advances in Therapy
Dr. Lewenberg's most important written work appeared in the peer-reviewed journal Advances in Therapy. Most minoxidil research of the era asked whether the drug worked. His papers asked how to make it work better: what to combine it with, how often to apply it, at what strength and in what form. They put on the record, from a single physician's practice, the approach that later laboratory research would help explain.
1991
Lewenberg A. Treatment of alopecia with a minoxidil-tretinoin combination. Advances in Therapy 1991;8:190–198.
His first report described treating 484 patients with topical minoxidil combined with tretinoin. After two years, about 90% had what he called cosmetically satisfying results. He also observed that the combination grew hair in every region of the scalp, where minoxidil alone mostly worked at the crown.
484patients treated with minoxidil plus tretinoin
~90%with cosmetically satisfying results after two years
Allregions of the scalp regrew, including the front
1996
Lewenberg A. Minoxidil-tretinoin combination for hair regrowth: effects of frequency, dosage, and mode of application. Advances in Therapy, September/October 1996.
The follow-up looked at technique. Drawing on a much larger group of patients over two years, he argued that more frequent application of a lower-strength solution could outperform the standard twice-daily routine, and that spraying the formula over the whole head protected existing hair as well as thin spots.
2,200+patients observed over the two-year study
~90%began regrowing hair within three months when used as prescribed
91%who continued 18 to 24 months showed normal or marked new growth
1996 figures as reported on the original baldspot.com. Both papers report results from his own patients, not randomized trials.
What came after
The science caught up, mostly
Critics in the early forums called his results anecdotal and his formula overpriced. Four decades on, the core idea he pushed, that tretinoin makes minoxidil work better, has real support, though the evidence is still mixed.
1986
Bazzano et al., J Am Acad Dermatol
In 56 patients, tretinoin with 0.5% minoxidil produced terminal hair regrowth in 66% after one year. Tretinoin alone helped about 58%.
PubMed 37718541990
Absorption crossover study
Applying tretinoin before minoxidil raised minoxidil absorption roughly threefold compared with minoxidil alone.
2007
Kwon et al., J Korean Med Sci
In cultured human follicles, minoxidil plus tretinoin promoted growth more than minoxidil alone, by prolonging cell survival and preventing cell death.
PubMed 174499382019
Sharma et al., Dermatologic Therapy
Five days of topical tretinoin converted 43% of predicted minoxidil non-responders into responders by raising follicular sulfotransferase, the enzyme that activates minoxidil.
2020s
Randomized trial and review
An Iranian trial found 0.5% minoxidil with tretinoin roughly matched 2% minoxidil. A 2025 review concluded tretinoin is a reasonable add-on, especially for people who don't respond to minoxidil alone.
Karger review
Carrying the idea forward
Tretinoin first, then Regenepure minoxidil spray
Dr. Lewenberg's insight was about sequence and absorption. Regenepure's fine-mist minoxidil spray was built on the same idea: an even, light coat that reaches the scalp across the whole head. Used after tretinoin, it puts the combination he championed in reach of anyone with a prescription.
Get a tretinoin prescription
Tretinoin is prescription-only in the US. Ask a dermatologist, your primary care doctor or a licensed telehealth service for a low-strength tretinoin (typically 0.01% to 0.025%) for scalp use, filled at any licensed pharmacy.
Apply tretinoin to a clean, dry scalp
Part the hair and apply a small amount directly to the thinning areas. Let it dry fully before the next step. Many people start every other night to let the scalp adjust.
Mist on Regenepure minoxidil
Once the tretinoin is dry, spray the Regenepure minoxidil mist over the whole scalp, not only the thin spots, and let it absorb before bed or styling.
Stay consistent and track it
Take photos in the same light every month. Regrowth usually takes four to six months to show and continued use to keep.
Talk to your doctor first. Tretinoin increases how much minoxidil your skin absorbs, which can also raise side effects such as dizziness, a racing heart or unwanted facial hair. Scalp redness and flaking are common at the start.
Don't use tretinoin if you are pregnant, trying to conceive or breastfeeding. Use sunscreen or a hat on treated skin, and stop and call your doctor if irritation is severe.
The original sites
Where it started
From the blog
Latest posts
Finasteride and DHT: How Propecia Slows Male Pattern Hair Loss
How finasteride lowers DHT, what the Propecia trials showed over five years, how long it takes to work, and the side effects to discuss with your doctor.
Why tretinoin helps minoxidil work: the enzyme behind the combination
Dr. Lewenberg paired minoxidil with tretinoin in 1986. Forty years later, research on a scalp enzyme called sulfotransferase helps explain why it works for some people.
Ketoconazole Shampoo for Hair Loss: What the Nizoral Research Shows
Nizoral was a 1990s forum favorite for thinning hair. Here is what studies on ketoconazole shampoo show, how it may work, and where the evidence is thin.
Inquiries
Get in touch
Former patients, colleagues and press with memories of Dr. Lewenberg or baldspot.com are welcome to write. Questions about the tretinoin and Regenepure protocol are welcome too.