Scientific Advisory Panel

“Cutting-edge works” – The New York Times

 The immersive, site-specific artscapes created for speechless were informed by conversations with specialists from prominent academic and medical institutions.

 

Tandra Allen, MS, CCC/SLP
Center for Brainhealth®
Tandra Allen is Head of Virtual Training Programs at The University of Texas at Dallas’s Center for BrainHealth®. She leads development of social training programs for adults, including Charisma™, a virtual reality social cognition training, as well as a Social Advanced Reasoning Training. Her work bridges research and clinical training programs, leveraging virtual technology to advance how the brain reacts and responds in social situations.

 

Tina Fletcher, EDD, MFA, OTR
Texas Woman’s University
Dr. Tina Fletcher is an associate professor of Occupational Therapy at Texas Woman’s University. Her work focuses on the impact of art making on clients and caregivers receiving occupational therapy, and on improving participation in community cultural arts and entertainment venues for visitors with special needs. Using sensory strategies, environmental supports, and curriculum development to achieve these goals, she is guided by the belief that participation in the creative process, whether experienced through art making or by being in cultural arts and entertainment venues, has a direct impact on a person’s well-being and quality of life.

 

Daniel Krawczyk, PhD
Center for Brainhealth®
Dr. Daniel Krawczyk is a professor in Behavioral and Brain Sciences and holds the Debbie and Jim Francis Chair at The University of Texas at Dallas. He serves as the Deputy Director of the Center for BrainHealth®. He is also on faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. His research has focused on understanding reasoning through a multidisciplinary approach that combines neuroimaging, cognitive psychology, and neuropsychology. He has authored two books, Reasoning: The Neuroscience of How We Think in 2017 and Understanding Behavioral BIA$ (with George Baxter) in 2019. He has previously spoken at numerous venues, including TEDxSMU and the Perot Museum of Nature and Science.

 

Jenny McGlothlin, MS, CCC/SLP, CLC
Callier Center for Communication Disorders
Jenny McGlothlin is a certified speech-language pathologist, certified lactation counselor, and faculty associate at the Callier Center for Communication Disorders at The University of Texas at Dallas. McGlothlin specializes in the evaluation and treatment of feeding disorders for children from birth through the teen years, as well as diagnosis and treatment of motor speech disorders in children. She developed the STEPS feeding program at The University of Texas at Dallas, where she works with families on a daily basis to foster feeding skills for life. McGlothlin is also the co-author of two books, Helping Your Child with Extreme Picky Eating and Conquer Picky Eating for Teens and Adults.

 

Bonnie Pitman, MA
Center for BrainHealth®
Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History
Bonnie Pitman is the Director of Art-Brain Innovations at the Center for BrainHealth® and a Distinguished Scholar for the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History at The University of Texas at Dallas. Pitman was the former Eugene McDermott Director of the Dallas Museum of Art. As Director of Art-Brain Innovations at the Center for BrainHealth®, Pitman expands her research and teaching of the power of observation and her Do Something New™ practice to foster brain health. These initiatives connect neurological research and foster brain health with the process of seeing, looking, and observing, and experiencing life with innovation and resilience.

 

Audette Rackley, MS, CCC/SLP
Center for BrainHealth®
Audette Rackley is Assistant Director of Strengths Based Programs at The University of Texas at Dallas’s Center for BrainHealth®, of which she has been a member since its inception in 1999. She has conducted brain training programs for individuals with memory complaints and Mild Cognitive Impairment. Her current focus is providing cognitive-linguistic interventions for individuals with early stage Alzheimer’s disease and their care partners. She co-authored I Can Still Laugh, a book outlining a BrainHealth®-developed approach to working with patients with dementia, and teaches a graduate level class on dementia.

 

Linda Thibodeau, PhD
Callier Center for Communication Disorders
Dr. Linda Thibodeau is a professor at The University of Texas at Dallas and works at the Advanced Hearing Research Center, which is part of the Callier Center for Communication Disorders. She is known for her work on assistive technology for persons with hearing loss. As an educator, she has developed specialized training opportunities in pediatric aural habilitation and adult rehabilitation.