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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.
24th Annual Buoniconti Fund Celebrity Golf Invitational at The Bear’s Club to be held on Sunday, April 26-Monday, April 27, 2026. For sponsorships and tables, visit www.thebuonicontifund.com/golf or call 305-243-4656.
Philanthropist Lois Pope Gives $10 Million to the University of Miami to establish a fund for neuroscience research in memory of her daughter and will focus on research into Alzheimer’s and other neurological diseases and disorders
The gift will name the Lois Pope Laboratory Wing in Memory of Lorraine Pope in the Lois Pope LIFE Center.
A paralyzed United States military veteran has been implanted with the ground-breaking Neuralink brain-computer device by surgeons at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis and Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
RJ, who is paralyzed due to a spinal cord injury sustained from a motorcycle accident, is the fifth participant in Neuralink’s PRIME (Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface) Study and the first to be implanted at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis and Department of Neurological Surgery at UHealth – University of Miami Health System. The PRIME Study is an investigational medical device clinical trial for assessing the safety and functionality of Neuralink’s intracortical brain-computer interface implant, which establishes a wireless, digital link between the brain and computers. Read full story here.
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.
Watch our Faculty Highlight video.
Professor, Department of Neurological Surgery
The John M. and Jocelyn H.K. Watkins Distinguished Chair in Cell Therapies
The Neuroscience Program, The Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute
Repairing the Injured Nervous System with Cell-Based Approaches and Modulators of Protein Modification Pathways
Scientific Director
Neuroprotection and Improved Recovery of Function following Brain and 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.
We are proud to share important news for spinal cord injury research. Congress has restored the Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program – Spinal Cord Injury Research and funded it at $33 million. This action ensures a national commitment to research that restores function, independence, and hope for people living with paralysis, including injured service members and veterans.
In 2008, The Miami Project, led by NFL Hall of Famer Nick Buoniconti, and Miami Project Scientific Director Dr. W. Dalton Dietrich, successfully urged Congress to establish a dedicated spinal cord injury research program within the Department of Defense. It was created in direct response to the unprecedented rise in combat related spinal cord and brain injuries during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, at a time when spinal cord injury research was often overshadowed within broader funding portfolios.
When Hassan Al Ali, Ph.D., associate professor of neurological surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, first came to Miami, he was searching for more than just a new research home. He was looking for a place where bold ideas could reshape the future of medicine.
Today, as director of the Drug Discovery Core at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, Dr. Ali is recognized for influencing how scientists discover new therapies for spinal cord injuries, cancer and beyond. His work has been supported by grants well in excess of $10 million, from the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Defense, as well as industry, institutional and private sources.
The Miami Project’s Jonathan Jagid, M.D. and Brian Noga, Ph.D. have established a strong foundation in deep brain stimulation (DBS) for movement disorders. Their collaborative expertise, honed through years of research and clinical work, is now driving a significant expansion: leveraging DBS not only for Parkinson’s but also for individuals living with spinal cord injury (SCI).
Building on these positive outcomes, the research program is now expanding. The team is extending their clinical studies to include individuals with SCI, aiming to translate the remarkable gains seen in Parkinson’s to those affected by paralysis.