1941-2022
The Miami Project and Buoniconti Fund are saddened to learn of the passing of our dear friend, champion and longtime Buoniconti Fund Board member Paul DiMare. His larger than life presence and impact leave a legacy that will endure forever. His dedication and commitment to help cure paralysis was monumental. Our deepest condolences to Swanee and the entire DiMare family.
The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis was co-founded by Barth A. Green, M.D., world -renowned neurosurgeon, and Nick Buoniconti, NFL Hall of Fame linebacker after Nick’s son, Marc, sustained a spinal cord injury during a college football game.
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.
Director of Education and Research
Interview With David McMillan, Ph.D.
The Miami Project presents Meet the Researcher, a periodic video series where each video introduces a new researcher. We will hear from the brilliant up and coming scientists and researchers that are part of The Miami Project’s dynamic international team.
Associate Professor, Department of Neurological Surgery
Understanding the signaling pathways that regulate axon growth, and identifying components of those pathways that can be targeted with drugs to induce robust axon regeneration
Scientific Director
Neuroprotection and Improved Recovery of Function following Brain and Spinal Cord Injury
Research Professor, Department of Neurological Surgery and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Neuroscience Program, High Content Screening and Functional Genomics of the Nervous System
Neurotrauma-related Neuropathic Pain Phenotypes and Biomarkers; Standards for Pain Assessment, Taxonomy and Classification after Spinal Cord Injury
PARALYSIS DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE.
Watch our stories of hope and inspiration from a few of our researchers and participants as they live and fight paralysis.
Dr. Deena Cilien, DPT, PT, is a graduate of the University of Miami's top-ranked clinical physical therapy program and currently works as one of our resident neuro physical therapists, specializing in spinal cord injury.
I chose to participate because I think it's pretty neat being part of finding a cure for something that is so big and affects so many lives.
I first fell in love with The Miami Project in 1986, while volunteering as one of the first research participants. I continue to return to participate in studies.
I suffered a spinal cord injury in 1983. The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis really made a difference in my life.
Jerrod, was paralyzed in a car accident on his way to work a few years ago. He was left a T-12 paraplegic as a result of the incident.
Faces of Paralysis subject, Jazzmin, was diagnosed as a teenager with Neuromyelitis optica which occurs when immune system cells and antibodies attack the optic nerves and the spinal cord.
Richard was paralyzed as a result of a motorcycle accident on the way home that left him with a C-2 incomplete injury.
As part of June's recovery process at The Miami Project, she has been participating in research training programs to improve outcomes for individuals with spinal cord injury.
On November 28th the Kidz Neuroscience Center at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis / University of Miami Miller School of Medicine celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the Countywide Concussion Care Program and passing of the Youth Concussion Legislation in 2012, known at the time as Florida House Bill 291.
A throng of supporters, children who have been helped by the program, doctors and researchers who have advanced the science, and pioneering families, legislators and administrators gathered for the upbeat celebration in the Hurricane 100 Room at the Watsco Center on the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables.
Shelby Burks, M.D., a burgeoning academic neurosurgeon in the Department of Neurological Surgery, under Miami Project Clinical Director Allan Levi, M.D., Ph.D., is the site Principal Investigator on a new multi-center study examining the effect of nerve transfers on reaching and grasping function, and quality of life, in people with tetraplegia.
Recently the 2022 Miami Project to Cure Paralysis Henry G. Steinbrenner Scholars Program, a 10-week funded, merit-based, research-driven summer research internship wrapped up. The program achieved its objective of expanding and diversifying the next generation of scientists in the clinically relevant yet underrepresented field of neurotrauma, culminating with the Steinbrenner Scholars Research Day where a panel of expert judges dubbed winners from oral and poster presentations given by the program’s participants on the research they conducted during the program.