Mary Bartlett Bunge, Ph.D., professor of cell biology, neurological surgery and neurology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, an extraordinary honor that reflects the height of professional achievement and commitment to service in health and medicine.Bunge, who joined the UM faculty 24 years ago, has worked for nearly four decades on the Schwann cell, which she and her late husband, Richard Bunge, M.D., determined to be a key to helping repair damaged spinal cords. Her work with Schwann cells has led to numerous discoveries, and is now central to The Miami Project’s phase one clinical trial to evaluate the safety of transplanting the Schwann cells of recently paralyzed patients into the site of their injury. This work will serve as a foundation for future cell replacement and regeneration trials at The Miami Project.
