Linda Collins | NYU School of Global Public Health

Linda Collins

Scroll

Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Linda M. Collins is Professor of Global Public Health in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Biostatistics. She earned her B.A. in Psychology at the University of Connecticut and her Ph.D. in Quantitative Psychology at the University of Southern California.

Collins’ research interests are focused on the development, dissemination, and application of the multiphase optimization strategy (MOST), a framework for the optimization of behavioral, biobehavioral, and social-structural interventions. The objective of MOST is to improve intervention effectiveness, efficiency, economy, and scalability. She is currently collaborating on research applying MOST in the areas of smoking cessation, the prevention of excessive drinking and risky sex in college students, and HIV services.

Collins’ research has been funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the National Science Foundation, among others. She has given more than 150 presentations on MOST around the world, and her publications have appeared in journals in the fields of behavioral science, quantitative methodology, medicine, and engineering.

Collins has held tenured faculty positions at the University of Southern California and at Penn State University, where she was Distinguished Professor of Human Development and Family Studies and Director of The Methodology Center. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, the Society of Behavioral Medicine, and is a past president of the Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology and the Society for Prevention Research.

Education

BA, Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

PhD, Quantitative Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Honors and awards

Fulbright Specialist, National University of Ireland Galway (2018)

Pauline Schmitt Russell Distinguished Career Award, Pennsylvania State University’s College of Health and Human Development (2017)

Evan G. and Helen G. Pattishall Outstanding Research Achievement Award, Pennsylvania State University’s College of Health and Human Development (2011)

President’s Award, Society for Prevention Research (2004)

Faculty Scholar Medal for the Social and Behavioral Sciences, Pennsylvania State University (2000)

Psychology Department Teacher of the Year, University of Southern California (1992)

Psychology Department Mentorship Award, University of Southern California (1991)

Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology Award for Distinguished Early Career Contributions to Multivariate Behavioral Research (1991)

Areas of research and study

Behavioral Science

Cost Effectiveness

Cost-effective Health Programs and Policies

Dissemination and Implementation of Evidence-based Programs

Publications

Using the multiphase optimization strategy (MOST) to optimize an HIV care continuum intervention for vulnerable populations: A study protocol

Advancing Models and Theories for Digital Behavior Change Interventions

Comparative effectiveness of intervention components for producing long-term abstinence from smoking: A factorial screening experiment

Comparative effectiveness of motivation phase intervention components for use with smokers unwilling to quit: A factorial screening experiment

Enhancing the effectiveness of smoking treatment research: Conceptual bases and progress

Evaluating Digital Health Interventions: Key Questions and Approaches

Identifying effective intervention components for smoking cessation: A factorial screening experiment

Implementing multifactorial psychotherapy research in online virtual environments (IMPROVE-2): Study protocol for a phase III trial of the MOST randomized component selection method for internet cognitive-behavioural therapy for depression

Mining health app data to find more and less successful weight loss subgroups

Optimization of Multicomponent Behavioral and Biobehavioral Interventions for the Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS

Utilizing MOST frameworks and SMART designs for intervention research

A dynamical systems approach to understanding self-regulation in smoking cessation behavior change

Continuous-time system identification of a smoking cessation intervention

Europe Needs a Central, Transparent, and Evidence-Based Approval Process for Behavioural Prevention Interventions

Evaluating individual intervention components: making decisions based on the results of a factorial screening experiment

Factorial experiments: Efficient tools for evaluation of intervention components

Functional data analysis for dynamical system identification of behavioral processes

Moving beyond the treatment package approach to developing behavioral interventions: addressing questions that arose during an application of the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST)

Optimization of behavioral dynamic treatment regimens based on the sequential, multiple assignment, randomized trial (SMART)

Optimization of remotely delivered intensive lifestyle treatment for obesity using the Multiphase Optimization Strategy: Opt-IN study protocol

Youths' Substance Use and Changes in Parental Knowledge-Related Behaviors During Middle School: A Person-Oriented Approach

Parental Knowledge and Youth Risky Behavior: A Person Oriented Approach

Recruiting and engaging smokers in treatment in a primary care setting: Developing a chronic care model implemented through a modified electronic health record