Staff & Collaborators

Dr. James Wilkes, PhD, MEd, ATC

Postdoctoral Scholar, Pennsylvania State University – Sport Concussion Research and Service Lab

Dr. Wilkes received his BS degree in Kinesiology with a focus in Athletic Training in 2013 from Penn State University. He then served as a support staff member with Penn State Athletics helping assist with Varsity, Club, and Intramural sports coverage for two years. Dr. Wilkes took a Graduate position with the Penn State Men’s Rugby team for two years before completing his MEd at Penn State University in 2017. Dr. Wilkes spent the last several years studying the influence of sleep on the accumulation of subconcussive impacts and resultant functional outcomes. He currently serves as a postdoctoral scholar in charge of research and education coordination. He also serves as a Certified Athletic Trainer to assist athletics with medical coverage as well as strengthen the relationship between the concussion lab and Penn State Athletics.

Dr. Michael Gay, PhD, MS, ATC

Assistant Athletic Trainer, Pennsylvania State University – Track & Field, Cross-country

Michael Gay

Dr. Gay received his BS degree in 1999 at the University of Maine, and his MS degree in Kinesiology 2001 from the Penn State University, and now holds a PhD in Kinesiology from Penn State University. Dr. Gay has been an athletic trainer for 13 years and currently works at Penn State as an athletic trainer. His role within the lab to date has been multifaceted. As a clinician he gives clinical direction and feedback to project creation and data collection as it pertains to the clinical component of mTBI. Dr. Slobounov and he have also expanded the depth and breadth of modalities used to diagnose/evaluate subjects recovering from mTBI. This multi-modal approach is critical in evaluating sub-clinical abnormalities and providing data points towards a comprehensive approach in the treatment of mTBI. His recent publications include: -Johnson, B., Zhang, K., Gay, M., Neuberger, T., Horovitz, S., Hallett, M., Sebastianelli, W. Slobounov, S: Metabolic alterations in corpus callosum may compromise brain functional connectivity in MBI patients: an MRS study, Neuroscience Letters (submitted Sept. 30, 2011).

Dr. Alexa Walter, PhD, MS

Postdoctoral Fellow, The University of Pennsylvania – Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine

AEW

Dr. Walter was a graduate student with the Penn State Center for Sports Concussion Research and Service and received her PhD in 2020. Her research focused on the susceptibility and resiliency to sport-related concussion and exposure to repetitive head impacts. Jointly, her work employed various techniques, ranging from clinically focused to more physiologically based approaches, to study the athletes involved in contact sports with the goal to begin to identify and distinguish factors that may differentiate individuals in regard to their susceptibility or resiliency to injury. Dr. Walter has published peer reviewed articles in top-tier academic journals, has contributed to textbooks, and presented at national and international conferences.