One of three athletic trainers at Simmons, Shelby Starkey joined the Sports Medicine staff in August 2016, providing medical coverage for all varsity sports at the University. Starkey serves as primary liaison for the university's counseling center, coordinates and oversees student athlete sports medicine compliance, sports medicine social media pages and is responsible for collaborating with the Simmons Public Safety Department in developing and enhancing Emergency Action Plans for on and off-campus venues.

Starkey received a Bachelor’s degree in Athletic Training from Lasell College (now University) in 2013. While attending the Newton campus, Starkey also obtained a Minor degree in Coaching, and was a recipient of the Kerkor "Koko" Kassabian Eastern Athletic Trainers' Association Scholarship Award, the ATOM iLead Student Leadership Scholarship and the institution’s Athletic Training Book Award. In addition to her Massachusetts state licensure in Athletic Training, Starkey holds a HawkGrips Level I Practitioner Certification in Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization and serves as a clinical preceptor for Boston University and Lasell University Athletic Training programs.

Prior to her arrival at Simmons, Starkey served as an athletic trainer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, following a stint with Curry College's men's and women's soccer teams in the Fall of 2015. Starkey earned a Master's of Science degree in Kinesiology in May of 2015 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she began her professional experience as a Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer. While at Amherst, Starkey worked directly with the Minutemen's nationally ranked field hockey team as well as the baseball team from 2013-15. In addition to her clinical position, she also taught undergraduate courses in Sports Medicine and directly supervised undergraduate students interning with the Minutemen’s Sports Medicine Department.

Along with her duties at Simmons, Starkey is also involved in a research collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory funded by the United States Army Medical Material Agency (USAMMA), collecting data for developing a mobile tool to aid in detection and diagnosis of concussions through analysis of vocal bio-markers. In addition, Starkey acts as a committee member of the Athletic Trainers of Massachusetts Young Professionals Committee, has served as an Adjunct Professor for Lasell University’s Athletic Training Education program and provides medical coverage for elite sports camps, including Nike Volleyball, Collegiate Soccer Academy, Massachusetts Youth Soccer State Cup and the US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program.

Starkey has attended numerous conferences both locally and nationally through the National Athletic Trainers Association, Eastern Athletic Trainers Association, Female Athlete Conference and Boston Children’s Hospital Concussion and Spine Injury Conference. She is also a member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) and Athletic Trainers of Massachusetts (ATOM).

“Our staff prioritizes the health and well-being of Simmons student-athletes by providing a comfortable and inclusive environment in the athletic training facilities. We develop individualized treatment plans for each injury or illness, and assist in coordinating access to external resources for pursuing the best care available for our student-athletes’ needs. My goal as part of the Simmons University Sports Medicine Department is in supporting the individuality of student-athletes on and off the playing fields, as they strive for greatness athletically while excelling academically”