Dr. Collins is an academic pediatric neurosurgeon and serves as an Assistant Professor of Pediatric Neurological Surgery at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. She completed undergraduate studies at Carnegie Mellon University with degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Biology. She earned her medical degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and completed neurological surgery residency, a year of endonasal and skull base surgery training as a chief resident, and a postgraduate fellowship in epilepsy research at the University of Washington in Seattle. She then completed a pediatric neurosurgery fellowship at the UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Collins has long been passionate about bringing technology and people together to advance the field of medicine. Her earliest bioengineering research endeavors involved using peripheral nerve tissue engineering techniques to regrow damaged nerves, soft lithography to pattern the growth of neurons, and developing molecular wires to stimulate neurons. During medical school she gravitated towards neurosurgical research and spent a year as a Ruth AOA Research Fellow in projects involving intraoperative deep-brain stimulation and diffusion tensor imaging. During and after her neurosurgical residency training, she conducted NIH-funded research looking at brain wave correlates of somatosensation and limb ownership, developmental changes in brain waves at rest and at play, brain-computer interface, and using brain stimulation to aid in the recovery of neurologic function.

Her clinical interests include epilepsy, skull base and other complex tumors, endoscopic surgery, and general pediatric neurosurgery. Dr. Collins is committed to providing the best possible care for her patients. She loves working with children and their families. She appreciates the privilege of taking care of someone else’s child and tries to treat each patient as if they were her own son or daughter.

Outside of work Dr. Collins enjoys spending time at home with her husband, mother, two young daughters, and their two fluffy cats. Her family comes from New Zealand and they try to visit when they can. They also enjoy running, pickleball, gardening, berry picking with the kids, and reading.