The Advanced Platform Technology (APT) Center, located within the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, is a Department of Veterans Affairs Research Center in the Rehabilitation Research and Development Service. The Center addresses the pressing clinical needs of disabled Veterans by designing and disseminating new rehabilitation interventions. Our R&D and translational programs focus on Prosthetics & Orthotics, Health Monitoring & Maintenance, Neural Interfaces and Enabling Technologies. Our unique and supportive environment enables APT Investigators to develop advanced assistive or restorative technologies that serve Veterans with sensory, motor, or cognitive deficits, as well as limb loss.  Investigators with the Center include multiple recipients of prestigious Presidential and NIH awards, and have been named some of the "Best Doctors in America" by Cleveland Magazine and Best Doctors, Inc.  The APT Center operates in partnership with Case Western Reserve University and collaborates with clinicians and researchers located at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and numerous other national institutions.

The Wen H. Ko Summer Internship Program provides opportunities for outstanding undergraduate STEM students to participate in cutting-edge biomedical research projects under the mentorship of world-class investigators at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Clinic and other academic affiliates. Students work on mini-projects supporting larger research initiatives. As part of the program, the students receive mentoring, participate in group meetings, attend planned lectures and laboratory visits, then they present their research findings at the end of the summer. The internship program offers a mechanism for giving students research experience with the objective of encouraging them to consider careers in VA research. The program plans to support eight students for the summer of 2022.

The APT Center's connection to YSU was facilitated through Dr. Janet Gbur's relationship with the university. Dr. Gbur is an APT Center Investigator, a double graduate of YSU (BE Materials Engineering, MSE Mechanical Engineering) and part-time faculty. She  teaches a class in the Mechanical Engineering program, MECH 2606 Engineering Materials. The class focuses on the relationship between materials structure, processing, properties, and performance. She uses examples from industry and research to showcase these relationships and shares efforts that are ongoing at the APT Center and her research as they relate to materials engineering. It was during this class that Tumi Adeeko became interested in the research performed at the APT Center and discussed student opportunities with Dr. Gbur.

Miss Adeeko led two mini-projects, one designed to teach fundamental research skills and focus on basic science while the other was focused on developing a design for a novel medical device. She was inquisitive and eager to learn and brought joy and laughter into the lab. The fundamentals that Miss Adeeko learned from her coursework enabled her to tackle new and difficult problems as a student researcher leading her own projects. Miss Adeeko's leadership on the design and fabrication of a flexible, implantable lead  laid the groundwork for students to continue that initial research throughout the academic year. The APT Center is extremely proud of Miss Adeeko and congratulates her on her Co-op of the Year Award (read more about that HERE)!