The Miami Project is the largest comprehensive spinal cord injury research center in the US. Its goals are to understand mechanisms of injury to the central nervous system, and to pioneer treatment strategies. Founded in 1985, the Miami Project unites scientists and clinicians in collaborative research and practice. Research efforts include a better understanding of neuronal and glial cell biology, axonal regeneration, spinal cord physiology, post-injury pathology, and rehabilitation techniques. Treatment strategies target effective surgical interventions, pharmacological treatments, and regenerative cell therapies.
This Miller School of Medicine center of excellence is routinely voted the number one eye hospital in America. Its goal is to protect and preserve the treasured gift of sight by providing world-class ophthalmic care and education, as well as by conducting new cutting-edge research. Current areas of investigation spans the spectrum of vision-related research, and relates to improved diagnosis, treatment or potential cures for age-related macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, glaucoma, cytomegalovirus retinitis, retinal detachment and ocular cancer
UM Sylvester Cancer Center opened its doors in 1992, and seeks to reduce the human burden of cancer through research, education, prevention, early detection, treatment and quality patient care. Nearly 200 scientists and clinicians work together in 15 site disease groups and four multidisciplinary research programs to find a cure. The four interdisciplinary research programs are Biobehavioral Oncology and Cancer Epidemiology, Molecular Targets and Developmental Therapeutics, Tumor Immunobiology and Immunotherapy, and Viral Oncology. The center is also currently involved in over 250 clinical trials.
The goal of the Diabetes Research Institute is not just to provide treatment for one of the nation’s deadliest diseases, it is to provide a cure. Established in the early 1970s, the DRI is now a world leader in diabetes research. The most comprehensive facility of its kind in the world, it has pioneered islet cell isolation and transplant techniques, and is now utilizing cell-based therapies to restore insulin production.
One of the Miller School of Medicine’s newest centers of excellence, established in early 2007, the Institute for Human Genomics seeks to incorporate genetic research findings to aid diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease. The goal is to take advances from the Human Genome Project and to apply them directly to patients, both to preserve and to improve their health. Disease areas currently being targeted by research at the center include Alzheimer’s Disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Autism, Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease and Tuberculosis.
Another new center of excellence at the Miller School of Medicine, the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute, was established in early 2007. It is an innovative center, uniting both new and pre-existing stem cell research efforts at the medical school. The goal is to study adult stem cell biology, as well as to develop new regenerative therapies for areas such as heart disease, neurological disease, bone disease, diabetes, cancer, and eye disease. The new, state-of-the-art facility will place previously separate researchers side by side in an effort to maximize collaboration and discovery.
