Biography

Summer Ott, Psy.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston and Director of the Memorial Hermann Rockets Sports Medicine Institute Concussion Program. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Sports Concussion Program, Dr. Ott moved to the greater Houston area where she has successfully developed three concussion programs that focus on an interdisciplinary approach to athlete care and management. She was a key member of the task force that developed verbiage for a sports concussion bill in Texas known as Natasha’s Law. Signed into law in June 2012, the bill established return-to-play guidelines for school-aged athletes with concussions.

Currently, Dr. Ott serves as the neuropsychological consultant for most Houston professional sports teams, including the Houston Texans, Dash, Dynamo, and Rockets, and for teams from numerous universities and school districts throughout Texas. In addition to clinical practice, Dr. Ott is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Masters of Athletic Training Program at the University of Houston, and she frequently conducts presentations regarding identification and management of concussive injury.

To date, Dr. Ott’s research has involved the assessment of 1) pre- and post-concussive neurocognitive performance, 2) the validity and reliability of neurocognitive assessment tools, and 3) the factors that shape concussion reporting behaviors of high school student-athletes. Currently, she is the PI of a grant-funded study that examines whether post-acute emotional distress and/or hypothalamic hormone levels in concussed female athletes are associated with delayed recovery. Previously, Dr. Ott served as Co-PI of a NIH-funded pilot study that investigated clinical features, neuroimaging, and biomarkers in adolescents cleared for return to play within one month post-concussion. She has co‐authored publications on neuropsychological assessment and sports-related concussion and is an ad hoc reviewer for scientific journals, including The American Journal of Sports Medicine, Journal of Athletic Training, and Applied Neuropsychology-Child.

Dr. Ott is a founding member of the Sports Neuropsychological Society (SNS), currently serves on the executive board and multiple committees for the organization, and was Co-Chair for the 2nd Annual Sports Neuropsychology Society Concussion Symposium held in Dallas, Texas. Aside from her contributions to SNS, Dr. Ott was appointed to the medical advisory committee for USA Cheer.

Education

Undergraduate Degree
University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, Missouri
Masters of Science
University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, Missouri
Doctorate
Doctorate of Psychology, Forest Institute of Professional Psychology, Springfield, Missouri
Internship
Neuropsychology Internship, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Fellowship
Neuropsychology Fellowship, Sport Concussion Program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Publications

Visit the PubMed profile page

Refereed Original Articles in Journals

  1. Ryan, J.J., Schnakenberg, S.D., & Kreiner, D.S. Effects of altered instructions on WAIS-III Digit Symbol-Coding subtest. Psychological Reports, 88, 987-988, 2001.
  2. Kreiner, D.S., Schnakenberg, S.D., Green, A.G., Costello, M.J., & Mclin, A.F. Effects of spelling errors on the perception of writers.  Journal of General Psychology, 129, 5-17, 2002.
  3. Ryan, J.J., & Schnakenberg-Ott, S.D. Scoring Reliability on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale –Third Edition (WAIS-III).  Assessment,10, 151-159, 2003.
  4. Claycomb, C.D., Ryan, J.J., Miller, L.J., & Schnakenberg-Ott, S.D. Relationships among ADHD, induced labor, and selected physiological and demographic variables. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 60, 689-693, 2004.
  5. Schnakenberg-Ott, S.D., Ryan, J.J., & Tree, H.A. WAIS-III incidental learning base rates: Findings for college student and patient samples. Perceptual Motor Skills, 99, 903-908, 2004.
  6. Schnakenberg-Ott, S.D., Ryan, J.J., Tree, H.A., Kreiner, D.S., & Halfaker, D.A. High scatter and WAIS-III short form validity. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 20, 936, 2005.
  7. Ryan, J. J., Kreiner, D. S., Bartels, J. M., Tree, H. A., & Schnakenberg-Ott, S. D. Thirty-second interval patterns for WAIS-III Digit Symbol and Symbol Search. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 21, 705-709, 2006.
  8. Moser, R., Schatz, P., Neidzwski, K. & Ott, S. Group vs. individual administration affects baseline neurocognitive test performance. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, (39), 2325-2330,
  9. Schatz, P., Moser, R., Solomon, G., Ott, S., & Karpf. R. Prevalence of invalid computerized baseline neurocognitive test result in high school and college athletes. Journal of Athletic Training, 47(3), 289-296,
  10. Schatz, P., Kelley, T., Ott, S., Solomon, G., Elbin, R., Higgins, K. et al. Utility of repeated assessment following invalid baseline performance. Journal of Athletic Training, 49(5), 659-64,
  11. Ott, S., Schatz, P., Solomon, G., & Ryan, J. Neurocognitive performance and symptom profiles of Spanish-speaking Hispanic athletes on ImPACT test. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 29(2), 152-163,
  12. Amonette, W.E., Boyle, M., Psarakis, M., Barker, J., Dupler, T., & Ott, S. Neurocognitive responses to a single bout of  static squats with whole body vibration. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 29 (1), 96-100,
  13. Ryan, J., Sumerall, S., Seeley, J., Umfleet, L., Kreiner, D., Brown, K. & Ott, S. WAIS-IV coding performance of young adults: Transcription patterns and incidental learning procedures. North American Journal of Psychology, 17 (1), 197-212,
  14. Blake, M., Ott, S., Villanyi, E., Kazhuro, K., & Schatz, P. Influence of language of administration on ImPACT performance by bilingual Spanish-English College students. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 30 (4), 302-309,
  15. Newome, M., Li, X., Wilde, E., Ott, S. Biekman, B., Hunger, J., Dash, P., Taylor, B., & Levin, H. Functional connectivity is altered in concussed adolescents despite medical clearance to return to play: A preliminary report. Frontiers in Neurology, (7), 1-9, 2017.
  16. Gunter, K.B., Shields, C.J., Ott, S.D., & Coronado, R.A. Rehabilitation of an adolescent equestrian athlete with a history of multiple concussions: a case report describing an adapted return to sport protocol. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 48(12), 934-942,
  17. Aggarwal, S.S., Ott, S.D., Padhye, N.S.Meininger, J.C., & Armstrong, T.S. Clinical and demographic predictors of concussion resolution in adolescents: A retrospective study. Applied Neuropsychology, Child, 8(1), 50-60, 2019.
  18. Wilde, E., Newsome, M. Ott, S., Hunter, J., Dash, P., Redell, J. et al. (2019). Persistent disruptions of brain connectivity after sports related concussion in a female athlete. Journal of Neurotrauma, 1089/neu.2019.6377. [Epub ahead of print]

Invited Articles

  1. Solomon, G.S., Ott, S.D., & Lovell, M.R. Long term neurocognitive dysfunction in sports: what is the evidence? Clinics in Sports Medicine, 30 (1), 165-77, 2011.
  2. Ott, S.D. & Herceg, M. Psychologists best to assess concussions, gender effects. National Psychologist, 26, (3), 13, 2017.
  3. Ott, S.D., Bailey, C.M., & Broshek, D.K. An interdisciplinary approach to sports concussion evaluation and management: The role of a neuropsychologist. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, https://doi.org/10.1093/arclin/acx132. 2018.

Invited Book Chapter

  1. Schnakenberg-Ott, S.D., & Lovell, M.R. “Psychological stress and spinal cord injury.” In Fink, G, Ed. Elsevier, San Diego, CA, 557-560. 2007.