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.
The reinstatement of this program is deeply personal.
In 2008, The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, a Center of Excellence at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, led by my father, 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.
The Miami Project firmly believed that the establishment of this program would not only advance our research but also accelerate progress across the entire field of neuroscience, and it indeed achieved that goal. From Fiscal Year 2009 through 2024, Congress invested nearly $478 million through this program, supporting researchers and institutions nationwide and accelerating progress in neuromodulation, regenerative medicine, rehabilitation strategies, and advanced clinical trials. Its restoration ensures continuity, stability, and renewed momentum across the entire spinal cord injury research community.
We are especially grateful to Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), who led the effort to restore the program and worked tirelessly to ensure spinal cord injury research remained a priority. We also thank Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA), Chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, and Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), the Subcommittee’s Ranking Member, along with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and other key appropriators whose efforts helped ensure the program’s reinstatement. For The Miami Project, this moment reflects nearly four decades of leadership in spinal cord injury and neurotrauma research. Our scientists continue to translate discovery into real world impact, advancing therapies designed to restore movement, improve quality of life, and bring hope to individuals and families nationwide.
We wanted you to be among the first to know about this important development and the progress being made on behalf of the spinal cord injury community.