Our Professional Staff

Dr. Kate Williamson Lins is a graduate of the Ohio State University (BA, MA) and the University of Florida (AuD). She has practiced audiology locally since 1997. Dr. Lins has worked closely with ear, nose, and throat physicians, in hearing instrument dispensing clinics, and has been affiliated with Upper Valley Medical Center since 1999. In 2007, Dr. Lins and Dr. Rudy formed Upper Valley Hearing & Balance, Inc., and Dr. Lins is now proud to be the sole owner and managing audiologist of this growing practice. Dr. Lins is a Fellow of the American Academy of Audiology, certified by the American Speech Language and Hearing Association, and licensed to practice audiology by the State of Ohio. She is also a member of the Ohio Speech Language and Hearing Association. Dr. Kate Lins received the Troy Chamber of Commerce 2012 Outstanding Young Woman Award. Dr. Lins and her husband Doug are both graduates of Troy High School, and continue to reside in Troy with their four children. Dr. Lins is an active community volunteer and previously served as member of the Board of Trustees at both Overfield Early Childhood Program and Brukner Nature Center. She is currently serving on the Board of Limited Jurisdiction for Lehman Catholic High School, the Education Commission for St. Patrick School, and is an active volunteer with both St. Patrick Home & School and St. Patrick Alumni & Friends.

Dr. Mallory S. Mercer completed both her undergraduate and graduate degrees at The Ohio State University, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors and Research Distinction in Speech and Hearing Sciences and her Doctorate of Audiology. Dr. Mercer spent most of her academic career as a Research Associate in the Early Development of Children with Hearing Loss (EDCHL) laboratory under Dr. Susan Nittrouer. She completed her doctoral externship at the Dayton VA Medical Center, where she provided hearing and balance evaluations, as well as hearing aids and assistive listening devices to Dayton's veterans. At Upper Valley Hearing & Balance, Dr. Mercer specializes in comprehensive adult and pediatric evaluations, hearing aids and balance diagnostics. Dr. Mercer is licensed to practice audiology in the state of Ohio, board certified by the American Board of Audiology and is a fellow of the American Academy of Audiology. 

Dr. Mercer and her husband, Troy, live in his hometown of Troy. Mr. Mercer works with his father in their athletic field contracting business, Mercer Group Inc. in Troy. Troy and Mallory have two sons, Trenton and Thompson, and a daughter, Tessa.  

Dr. Alison H. Bailey completed her undergraduate degree at Ohio University, earning her Bachelor of Science in Hearing, Speech, and Language Sciences.  She completed her graduate degree at Kent State University, through the Northeast Ohio Au.D. Consortium, earning her Doctorate of Audiology.  Dr. Bailey completed her doctoral externship at the Dayton VA Medical Center, focusing on providing hearing and balance evaluation, as well as hearing aids.  Upon completing her doctorate, she worked with Southwest Ohio ENT Specialists for two years.  Dr. Bailey is licensed by the State of Ohio Board of Speech Pathology and Audiology, is a Fellow of the American Academy of Audiology, and is certified by the American Speech Language and Hearing association.  Dr. Bailey specializes in comprehensive adult and pediatric evaluations, hearing aids, vestibular testing, and cochlear implants.  Dr. Bailey and her husband, Andrew, reside in her hometown of Troy.  Mr. Bailey is employed as an Engineer with Wayne Trail, in Fort Loramie. Andrew and Alison have two daughters, Clara and Rose. 

Dr. Justina Katterheinrich obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Speech and Hearing Science from The Ohio State University in her hometown of Columbus, OH. She then earned her Doctorate in Audiology from Northeast Ohio Au.D. Consortium. She completed her doctoral externship at Heuser Hearing Institute in Louisville, KY where she gained experience with a wide variety of clinical specialties including diagnostics, electrophysiology, vestibular assessments, educational audiology, hearing aids and cochlear implants. After graduation, she worked at a private practice in Maryland. Dr. Katterheinrich is licensed to practice audiology in the state of Ohio, board certified by the American Board of Audiology and is a fellow of the American Academy of Audiology.

At Upper Valley Hearing & Balance, Dr. Katterheinrich specializes in comprehensive adult and pediatric evaluations, hearing aids and cochlear implants. She and her husband, Kyle, live in Beavercreek with their cat, Zoey.

Dr. Stacy Roberts attended The Ohio State University, where she earned both her Bachelor of Arts in Speech and Hearing Science and her Doctorate of Audiology.  Dr. Roberts completed her doctoral externship at the James H. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa, FL. During her time at the VA, she not only provided hearing healthcare for veterans and their families, but also participated on an interdisciplinary team addressing traumatic brain injury in active duty service members.  Dr. Roberts returned to her home state in 2013 and prior to joining Upper Valley Hearing and Balance worked locally at a private practice focusing on diagnostics, hearing aids, assistive listening devices and aural rehabilitation. Dr. Roberts is licensed by the State of Ohio Board of Speech Pathology and Audiology. Dr. Roberts and her husband, Matt, reside in Vandalia. They are proud parents to a daughter, Kailyx, and a son, Colton.  

Dr. Katie Miller obtained her Bachelor of Science in Communication Disorders from Marshall University in her home state of West Virginia and a Doctorate of Audiology degree from Northeast Ohio Au.D. Consortium. She completed her externship at the Hershel “Woody” Williams VA Medical Center in Huntington, West Virginia.  Prior to joining Upper Valley Hearing & Balance, Katie was an educational audiologist in North Carolina. She is licensed by the Ohio Board of Audiology, a Fellow of the American Academy of Audiology, and holds her Educational Audiology License in Ohio. 

While not at work, Katie enjoys spending time with her husband, Thomas, and their two dogs, Daisy and Griffin.

Jennifer has been practicing audiology locally since 1995 and joined Upper Valley Hearing & Balance, Inc. in 2016. Throughout her career, Jennifer has had a wide range of audiology experiences including diagnostic testing, balance testing, and hearing aid services. Currently, she performs comprehensive audiological evaluations for our company. Jennifer graduated from Kent State University with her Masters in Audiology. She is licensed by the Ohio Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and is a certified member of the American Speech Language Hearing Association.

Audiologist, Erin Thomas, has been practicing audiology in the Dayton area since 1998 after graduating with her Bachelor of Science in Communication Sciences from Illinois State University and her Master of Arts in Audiology from the University of Cincinnati. She performs a wide variety of audiological services for pediatrics to geriatrics including comprehensive audiological evaluations, as well as balance testing and other neurodiagnostic evaluations. Erin also has extensive experience with cochlear implants and fitting hearing aids/assistive listening devices. 

Erin is licensed by the Ohio Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and a certified member of the American Speech Language Hearing Association. She lives in her hometown of Piqua with her husband, Keith, and two children, Ella and Trevor. 

Chrissy has been in the hearing and ear, nose and throat field for 20 years. She started in an Ear, Nose and Throat practice assisting the doctors with surgery scheduling and continued training to assist with procedures and patient care. She eventually became the Practice Administrator. During that time she was also trained to troubleshoot hearing aid problems and became an Audio Tech. She has had a variety of opportunities to learn about patients with hearing loss. Chrissy says she has enjoyed watching patients become social again and communicate with spouses, family and friends. She continued in the hearing field as Practice Administrator with Upper Valley Hearing & Balance. Her responsibilities include scheduling, performing data entry and processing. She also implements office policies and procedures, as well as overall basic maintenance and minor repairs of hearing aids. Chrissy resides in Sidney with her husband, Bret and 2 children, Evan and Leah. She enjoys finding adventures in nature, watching sports and traveling with them.

Brittany Hoying, Upper Valley Hearing and Balance Inc.’s Marketing and Billing administrator has been working in the healthcare field for over 12 years ranging in areas from nursing home specialty units to a specialty practice, both medical and pharmaceutical. Throughout this time these experiences have given her the opportunity to enhance and educate herself in all aspects of health care which include but are not limited to; marketing, business development, project management, patient relations and medical and pharmaceutical billing/coding. She comes with strong analytical skills and a broad range of computer expertise.  She attended Clark State Community College where she completed her Real Estate courses.  She resides in Troy with her three children; Gracie Rose, Gunnar Rae and Georgia Reese, who all love their time spent with family, traveling and sports.  They are active members of St. Patrick Catholic Church and her children attend St. Patrick Catholic School.