Dr. Nathan Makowski, an Investigator at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center's (LSCVAMC) Advanced Platform Technology (APT) Center, was awarded a $3.1 million, five-year National Institutes of Health grant entitled "Customizable Cooperative Multi-Joint Control to Enhance Walking Mobility After Stroke."

Dr. Makowski’s research is focused on developing and testing interventions to improve movement after stroke through the development of neuroprosthetic systems that assist stroke survivors’ movements and improve function and independence.  In this project, Dr. Makowski's team will use an implanted stimulation system to activate muscles weakened from stroke in a coordinated manner to enhance walking ability. Investigators will evaluate the system’s efficacy in a small group of stroke survivors by determining whether the approaches they’ve developed to assist users' movements improve their walking ability.

Dr. Makowski is also Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) at the Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine and a Staff Scientist in the Department of PM&R at The MetroHealth System.

Dr. Makowski's co-investigators include:

Musa Audu, PhD, Research Professor of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at CWRU

Debbie Espy, PhD, Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy, Cleveland State University

Douglas Gunzler, PhD, Researcher, Department of Medicine at MetroHealth and Associate Professor of Medicine, CWRU

Harry Hoyen, MD, Orthopedic Surgeon at MetroHealth and Professor of Orthopedics at CWRU

Ronald Triolo, PhD, Director, APT Center, LSCVAMC; Staff Scientist, Department of Orthopedics at MetroHealth and Professor of BME at CWRU

Richard Wilson, MD, PM&R Physician at MetroHealth and Professor of PM&R at CWRU