In 1985, Barth A. Green, M.D., world-renowned neurosurgeon, and Nick Buoniconti, NFL Hall of Fame linebacker, joined forces and founded The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis after Nick’s son, Marc, sustained a spinal cord injury during a college football game. Since then, research at The Miami Project has changed the landscape of knowledge and therapeutic strategies for spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury.
Committed to finding a cure for paralysis resulting from spinal cord injury and to seeing millions worldwide walk again, the Buoniconti family established The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis in 1992. The Buoniconti Fund is a non-profit organization whose mission is to raise funds and awareness to help The Miami Project achieve its primary focus; to repair and restore function to the injured and diseased nervous system, thereby improving the quality of life to patients throughout the world.
The Miami Project, a Center of Excellence at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, is now considered one of the premier research programs conducting cutting-edge discovery, translational and clinical investigations targeting traumatic spinal cord and brain injury, and other neurological disorders. The Miami Project’s international team of over 175 scientists, researchers, clinicians and support staff is dedicated to improving the quality of life and, ultimately, finding a cure for paralysis. Miami Project researchers are currently conducting clinical studies and trials in spinal cord injury, including testing neuroprotective strategies, cellular therapies using Schwann cell and stem cell transplantation and advanced rehabilitation and neuromodulation approaches including the use of brain machine interface technologies. Other areas of current research include drug discovery for axonal regeneration and immune modulation, neuropathic pain, male fertility and cardiovascular disorders.
