Buoniconti went on offense against paralysis/Miami Project

[Max]

Buoniconti went on offense against paralysis

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-paralysis03aug03.story?coll=sfla%2Dsports%2Dfront

By Nancy McVicar
Health Writer
Posted August 3 2001



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Doctors told Nick Buoniconti rather bluntly that there was no hope his son Marc, 19, would ever walk again.

"That's unacceptable," the stricken father said at the time, and he made Marc a promise that he would do everything he could to bring about a cure for spinal cord injury.

Two weeks after Marc suffered a paralyzing injury while playing football for The Citadel, his dad founded the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis with Dr. Barth Green, Marc's doctor and the chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Miami School of Medicine.

Buoniconti also started the Buoniconti Fund, which has raised about $150 million for research. Much of the money has come from charity events for which he enlisted celebrities as diverse as Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Gloria Estefan, Mets manager Bobby Valentine, Chris Evert and Emerson Fittipaldi to sponsor or play in sporting events, attend gala dinners or just open their checkbooks.

He has worked tirelessly for the cause.

"Anything we ask him to do within reason, he does," Marc said. "He made a commitment to me from the beginning to raise the money it would take to find a cure. Every day he's involved."

The senior Buoniconti credits his 23-year stint on HBO's Inside the NFL for giving him the recognition that allows him to ask the rich and famous to give their time and money.

Palm Beach philanthropist Lois Pope, whose friend Christopher Reeve was paralyzed when thrown from a horse in 1995, gave $10 million toward construction of a new research center to house the Miami Project's scientists, who were scattered in several locations across the medical school campus.

The state of Florida matched her gift, and with other donations the new $37 million center, named for Pope, opened Oct. 26, 15 years to the day after Marc's life-altering injury.

More than 90 scientists, physicians and clinicians exploring 20 different areas of basic science, clinical and rehabilitation and pain research are working in the facility, the largest of its kind in the world.

"It's great," said Marc, who spends at least three days a week working at the center. "I compare it to a professional sports team. You have the coaches, the best players, and the best facility in the world. There's really no excuse."

When the Miami Project began, conventional medical wisdom was there would never be a cure because nerve cells could not regenerate. By 1991, Miami Project scientists had proved conventional wisdom wrong by regenerating human central nervous system tissue in the laboratory.

Three years later, Miami Project scientists succeeded in getting nerve cells to grow across a spinal cord break in animals.

Much of the work has focused on Schwann cells, which are found in the peripheral nervous system and have the ability to regenerate. Eventually, Schwann cells might be taken from a patient's ankle, multiplied many times in the laboratory and transplanted into the injured area of the spinal cord to make repairs. There would be no worry about rejection, since they would be that patient's own tissue.

Another promising area of the research involves work on stem cells, cells that can be programmed to become any kind of tissue or organ in the body. Researchers think they hold great promise in restoring nerve pathways in damaged spinal cords.

"We actually have one of the leading stem-cell research labs in the country," Marc said. "We mass produce stem cells and clone stem cells and can differentiate them into the cells we need. The controversy over federal funding has not stopped the progress."

There are still puzzles that require solving, but the quest is now considered an achievable goal, Marc said.

"They consider finding a cure for paralysis the Holy Grail of neuroscience," said Marc, who serves as ambassador for the Miami Project and is president of the Buoniconti Fund.

"We have the best facility in the world for achieving that."

Nancy McVicar can be reached at nmcvicar@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4593.
Copyright © 2001, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

__________________________________________________ __
Maksim (Max) Bily
mail to : imax@odyssee.net
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[Jeremy]

Much of the work has focused on Schwann cells, which are found in the peripheral nervous system and have the ability to regenerate. Eventually, Schwann cells might be taken from a patient's ankle, multiplied many times in the laboratory and transplanted into the injured area of the spinal cord to make repairs. There would be no worry about rejection, since they would be that patient's own tissue.

They've already done this with a person with MS http://carecure.org/forum/showthread.php?t=13694

[wilfried]

The best facility in the world and still no cure - not even an announcement. That puzzles me, too.

[tvot]

150 million in 15 years is a great. I hope Mark and his pals can whip up another 15 million but in a shorter time. In the meantime the scientist there can study the clinical reports of the past 15 years.

[DA]

TVOT, miami has wasted that money. the best in the world has nothing to show for it. imagine 150 million in dr cheng hands? or 150 million in diacrin hands? or 150 million in my hands.

[tvot]

"In the meantime the scientist there can study the clinical reports of the past 15 years."

I thought the sarcasm was evident in the last paragraph.

Hey I seen old Marky today on ESPN inducting his father into the hall of fame and all I can say is...
Who's 50 Twinkies short of a cure.

[DA]

i think nick and mark is sincere when it comes to cure. however i think they are too close to the ppl at miami to be objective.