Biography

Dr. Collins completed an internal medicine residency at the University of Oklahoma, Tulsa followed by a fellowship in general internal medicine at Harvard Medical School and a Master of Public Health at Harvard School of Public Health. From November 2011 to June 2019, Dr. Collins served as Chair, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health and Kansas Health Foundation Distinguished Professor. From 2010 to 2012, she was chair for the Disparities Task Force, Society of General Internal Medicine. From 2013 to 2016, she served as president-elect, president, and immediate past-president for the Association of Chiefs and Leaders of General Internal Medicine. She completed several trials, funded by the NIH, to determine the efficacy of phone-based, texting, and smartphone applications to promote physical activity among diverse populations including African Americans with PAD, overweight/obese adults with PAD, and Latino adults with one or more risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Having maintained board certification in general internal medicine and vascular medicine, she maintains a clinical practice as a vascular specialist. To have a greater impact on health care delivery, in February 2018, she completed a Master of Health Care Delivery Science degree at Dartmouth. She now serves as Dean, College of Population Health, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center. She was recently appointed to serve on the Bernalillo County Sub-Committee for Community Support.

Areas of Specialty

• Health inequities
• Peripheral artery disease
• Intersection of health care delivery and public health

Achievements & Awards

Dr. Collins completed the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Program for Women in 2015. Dr. Collins has received funding from the NIH to assess the benefits of behavioral interventions to improve outcomes among diverse populations. She is currently finalizing a study to assess the feasibility and potential efficacy of a smartphone application to promote healthy dietary habits and physical activity among overweight/obese adults with peripheral artery disease.

Key Publications

  • Jacobson, L. T., Duong, J., Grainger, D. A., Collins, T. C., Farley, D., Wolfe, M., Dong, F., & Anderson, B. (2016). Health Assessment of a Rural Obstetrical Population in a Midwestern State.  Journal of Pregnancy and Child Health, 3, 252.  DOI: 10.4172/2376-127X.1000252.
  • Jacobson, L. T., Grainger, D. A., Duong, J., Anderson, B., Redmond, M., & Collins, T. C. (2016).  Pioneer Baby-Moving toward a health promotion program among multicultural rural women to improve pregnancy outcomes.  Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 50(S1), 1-336.  PMID: 26956014.
  • Redmond, M.L., Dong, F., Twumasi-Ankrah, P., Hines, R. B., Jacobson, L. T., Ablah, E, Johnston, J. & Collins, T. C.  (2018). Food insecurity and pre-hypertension, pre-diabetes in adult women: Results from the 2007-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.  Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice, 11(1) 56-73.
  • Collins TC, Dong F, Ablah E, Parra-Medina D, Cupertino P, Rogers N, et al. Text Messaging to Motivate Exercise Among Latino Adults at Risk for Vascular Disease: A Pilot Study, 2013.  Prev Chronic Dis 2014;11:140219.  DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd11.140219
  • Collins TC, Slovut DP, Newton Jr R, Johnson WD, Larrivee S, Patterson J, Johnston JA, Correa A. Ideal cardiovascular health and peripheral artery disease in African Americans: Results from the Jackson Heart Study. Preventive medicine reports. 2017 Sep 1;7:20-5.
  • Collins TC, Lu L, Valverde MG, Silva MX, Parra-Medina D. Efficacy of Text Messaging to Promote Physical Activity among Latino Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Prev Med Rep. 2019 Aug 7;16:100965. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2019.100965. eCollection 2019 Dec
  • Treat-Jacobson D, McDermott MM, Bronas UG, Campia U, Collins T, Criqui MH, Gardner AW, Hiatt WR, Regensteiner JG, Rich K. Optimal Exercise Programs for Patients with Peripheral Artery Disease: A Scientific Statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2018;139:e10–e33
  • Redmond ML, Smith S, Collins TC. Exploring African‐American womens' experiences with substance use treatment: A review of the literature. Journal of Community Psychology. 2020 Mar;48(2):337-50.
  • Schapira MM, Williams M, Balch A, Baron RJ, Barrett P, Beveridge R, Collins T, Day SC, Fernandopulle R, Gilberg AM, Henley DE. Seeking Consensus on the Terminology of Value-Based Transformation Through use of a Delphi Process. Population health management. 2020 Jun 1;23(3):243-55.

Research

I am an established clinical scientist with a track record of funding from RWJ, VA, American Diabetes Association, AHRQ, and NIH. I have conducted clinical epidemiologic, health services research, and behavioral intervention work that focus on patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) and diabetes mellitus. I have conducted a cross-sectional screening study to assess the prevalence of PAD in both English and Spanish-speaking patients. This was one of the first studies to assess variation by race/ethnicity and primary language in the prevalence of PAD. Additionally, I completed a large VA IIR study involving chart reviews of risk factor management (e.g., medication use for atherosclerotic risk factors, level of control of each atherosclerotic risk factor) in over 790 patients with PAD. My work has focused on promoting walking for exercise among patients with diabetes mellitus. I have completed an assessment of smartphone usage among Latino adults within the state of Kansas with one or more CVD risk factors. I have also conducted an assessment of smartphone usage and self-efficacy for weight loss among overweight/obese adults. I completed a community-based trial, funded by the NIH, to assess the efficacy of text messaging and motivational interviewing to motivate physical activity among Latino adults. I also completed a pilot trial to assess the efficacy of text messaging of a dietary intervention to promote healthy eating among overweight/obese adults with one or more additional cardiovascular risk factors. I recently completed a 3-month pilot trial to determine the potential efficacy of a smartphone application to motivate health dietary habits and physical activity among overweight/obese adults with PAD.

Courses Taught

• Principles of Epidemiology
• Evidence-based Medicine