Meet Antonello Bonci | President and Chief Scientific Officer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Antonello Bonci and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Antonello, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?
The one thing that saddens me the most is the fact that the vast majority of people, both in the U.S and worldwide, are unaware of the many successful treatment options that are available for anyone struggling with anxiety, depression, addiction, and long covid symptoms such as mental fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and insomnia. The incredible progress that has occurred in psychological treatments, medicine, and technologies such as transcranial magnetic stimulation when combined allows the majority of people that take advantage of them to transform their lives. Additionally, in an ideal situation, people would have the best possible outcomes if Psychological, Medical, and providers of technologies such as TMS are in communication and working on an integrated overall course of treatment. At GIA and Vita Recovery, this is a very important aspect of a patient’s care. We are always happy to offer free educational conversations to allow everyone to learn more about these treatment options. Knowledge is power!

What should our readers know about your business?
Before opening GIA Miami, I was a Professor of Neurology at the University of California in San Francisco (UCSF, which had the top-ranked Department of Neurology in the USA) and the Scientific Director at the National Institute on Drug Abuse/the National Institutes of Health (NIDA/NIH) until mid-2019. I created GIA Miami because of a dream: that by 2030, every person, from people without housing to billionaires, will have educated, informed access to comprehensive mental health programs that can help them achieve their optimal mental wellness. Our knowledge about the brain, psychiatry, neurology and psychology has made tremendous progress over the last few years. More and more of us now understand that mental wellness is our most precious resource. Achieving mental wellness not only has a positive impact on ourselves but improves our work our daily performance and benefits all of the people around us. However, while the majority of us are willing to invest time and a lot of financial resources on achieving and acquiring “things” and “objects” of physical material and pleasures, very few of us are willing to invest in our mental health, which is by far our most precious treasure. Therefore, my clinics offer free scientific information to anyone that is interested in learning about their mental wellbeing. My hope is that through acquiring that knowledge, more people will be able to make informed decisions. Accurate information and correct knowledge afford us freedom and power over our lives. The internet is plagued by inaccurate medical information. Sharing our expertise and education is our way to fight the mental health “misinformation pandemic”. In conclusion, I created GIA Miami for one reason: to offer all of our clients a renewed sense of freedom and control over their lives and their destinies. Freedom from anxiety, excessive stress, depression, and addictions. Everyone has the right to enjoy and express their passions and make the best and healthiest decisions for themselves and their loved ones.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take them to South Point at sunrise and Sunset when the beach is almost empty and the colors are magical and wind surfing or kayaking at Virginia Key at Key Biscayne.

I also love the art scene in Miami such as the Vizcaya Museum, the Perez art Museum and the Rubell which are all incredible places.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have a lot of mentors to thank! Throughout my career I have been blessed with incredible mentors that inspired me to become a Physician-Scientist and the best version of myself every day. I will be forever grateful to all of them for all they have done for me. My first mentor was John Williams, a professor at Oregon Health and Science University, OHSU and at the Vollum Institute in Portland, Oregon. My second mentor was Robert Malenka at the Univesity of California San Francisco, UCSF, now Chair of Neuroscience at Stanford. Rob allowed me to come back to the USA after finishing my residency in Italy and gave me the opportunity to start my career in the USA. Both John and Rob are incredibly generous human beings, beside being some of the most successful and respected neuroscientists in the world. They taught me the most rigorous scientific methods, and how to become a well-rounded neuroscientist. At UCSF, I also had the good fortune to work under Ivan Diamond, the Director of the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center, and Steven Hauser, the Chair of neurology at UCSF, and Howard Fields. I am immensely grateful to them as well for mentoring me from the time when I was an assistant professor to the time that I became a full professor. I still miss UCSF to this day and I owe them as well a huge debt of gratitude for all the time they have selflessly spent helping. Finally, my former supervisor, Nora Volkow, Director of National Institute on Drugs Abuse, NIDA at the National Institute of Health, still inspires me with her relentless, life long passion and commitment to solve and fight every day the many complex faces of substance abuse and addictions worldwide.

Website: gia.miami

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Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gia-miami/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MiamiGIA

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTv-xAj6CzdKMaQfDJnuM3Q/videos