About

Program Components

Online Mentor Training

Mentor-Mentee Matching

In-Person and App-Based Mentoring

Monthly Group Meetings

Our Team

Our Research Team

Tracey Wallace, MS, CCC-SLP
Co-Principal Investigator

Tracey Wallace, MS, CCC-SLP serves as Co-Principal Investigator on the Success in College after Concussion with Effective Student Supports (SUCCESS) project. Tracey has been a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) for over 20 years, during most of which she has specialized in brain injury rehabilitation at Shepherd Center, in Atlanta, Georgia. She has extensive experience supporting students at Shepherd Center’s Complex Concussion Clinic in returning to college successfully after concussion/mild traumatic brain injury. Tracey is Co-Chair American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine Technology Networking Group. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Side by Side Brain Injury Clubhouse and for the Georgia Rehabilitation Services Volunteers Partnership (RSVP) Clinic aimed at providing rehabilitation services to people with brain and spinal cord injuries who have limited access to rehabilitation because of health disparities. Tracey is a leader, researcher, educator, and advocate with a special passion for supporting college students in successfully returning to college after concussion.

Katy O’Brien, PhD, CCC-SLP also serves in the role of Co-Principal Investigator for the SUCCESS project. She is an Assistant Professor at the University of Georgia in the department of Communication Sciences and Special Education where she also serves as Director of the Cognitive-Communication Rehabilitation Lab (Cog-Com Rehab Lab). Her expertise is built on research and clinical experience focused directly on understanding and designing supports appropriate for postsecondary students with concussion and traumatic brain injury (TBI) to maximize their academic and vocational success. Katy is the current secretary and incoming Vice Chair of the Brain Injury Association of Georgia and is on the executive board of the Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders and Sciences. She also serves on a Brain Injury Association of America committee developing an advanced certification program for professionals who serve people with concussion. Katy’s position as both an educator and a rehabilitation professional give her a special enthusiasm toward recognizing and meeting the needs of students with concussion on campus.

Katy O’Brien, PhD, CCC-SLP
Co-Principal Investigator

Rebecca Gartell, MA, CCC-SLP is a Speech-Language Pathologist at Shepherd Center in Atlanta, GA. For the last 12 years, she has dedicated her career to working with adolescents and adults with acquired neurological disorders including concussion. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in 2005 in Communication Sciences and Disorders with a minor in Education. She went on to complete her Master’s Degree in 2007 from the University of Florida. Before joining Shepherd Center, she was a Clinical Instructor at the University of South Florida where she mentored and taught graduate level students with primary focus in assessment and intervention for adolescent and adults with cognitive-linguistic disorders. For the last 3 years her primary role has entailed individual and group therapy for military service members with brain injury and co-occurring psychological health conditions. She also provides treatment for clients in the Complex Concussion Clinic where is able to use her expertise in helping college students return to school and improve their academic performance. She has served on state and local level boards for brain injury community organizations including currently serving as a member of the Georgia Brain Injury Trust Fund Children and Youth Committee.

Rebecca Gartell. MA, CCC-SLP
Research Assistant

Amy Kemp, MA, CCC-SLP is a doctoral student under Dr. Katy O’Brien at the University of Georgia (UGA). Amy worked clinically as a Speech-Language Pathologist in a variety of inpatient, outpatient, and home health settings throughout the Pacific Northwest and West, prior to moving to the South to pursue research. Her clinical experience is primarily adults with traumatic and acquired brain injury, dysphagia, voice, and/or cognitive communication and language deficits. She continues to provide clinical services during her doctoral program because of her passion for treatment and to continue to stay connected with patient perspectives about research needed areas. Amy’s research interests revolve around rehabilitation and recovery after traumatic brain injury and concussion, with a primary focus on brain-behavior relationships and the neuroscience of higher-level executive functioning, attention, and, memory. Amy’s goal in both her research and clinical care is to work collaboratively with people with brain injury and concussion to enable the person to reach their highest level of potential. Her clinical background has given her an interdisciplinary mindset, so that in all of her work, she is considering how to translate knowledge about the biomechanics and rehabilitation of brain injury to both professionals and the public.

Amy Kemp, MA, CCC-SLP
Research Assistant