Education and Training

Ph.D.: University of Leicester, Cardiovascular Sciences
Postdoctoral Fellowship: University of Alabama at Birmingham, Calcium Signaling in the Heart

Research Interests

Dr. Collins' research has thus far focused on the study of Ca²⁺ regulation at the level of the cardiomyocyte and the impact of cardiovascular disease, such as hypertrophy and ischemia/reperfusion injury, and altered circadian rhythms, on store-dependent and store-independent Ca²⁺ regulation.

The Collins lab is focused on understanding the underlying mechanisms that contribute to sex differences in cardiovascular physiology and the increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events in vulnerable female populations.

Current interests include:

• Understanding the mechanisms that contribute to pregnancy-induced cardiac growth and its reversal.
• Pathophysiological and etiological mechanisms of peripartum cardiomyopathy.
• Sex-dependent regulation of cardiac metabolism and its impact on post-infarction remodeling.

Featured Publications

For a complete list of publications, go to Dr. Collin's bibliography at My NCBI

• Schulman-Geltzer EB, Collins HE, Hill BG, Fulghum KL. Coordinated Metabolic Responses Facilitate Cardiac Growth in Pregnancy and Exercise. Curr Heart Fail Rep. 2023 Aug 15. doi: 10.1007/s11897-023-00622-0. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37581772.
• Collins HE. Female cardiovascular biology and resilience in the setting of physiological and pathological stress. Redox Biol. 2023 Jul;63:102747. doi: 10.1016/j.redox.2023.102747. Epub 2023 May 16. PMID: 37216702; PMCID: PMC10209889.
• Ouyang X, Bakshi S, Benavides GA, Sun Z, Hernandez-Moreno G, Collins HE, Kane MS, Litovsky S, Young ME, Chatham JC, Darley-Usmar V, Wende AR, Zhang J. Cardiomyocyte ZKSCAN3 regulates remodeling following pressure-overload. Physiol Rep. 2023 May;11(9):e15686. doi: 10.14814/phy2.15686. PMID: 37144628; PMCID: PMC10161215.
• Fulghum K, Collins HE, Jones SP, Hill BG. Influence of biological sex and exercise on murine cardiac metabolism. J Sport Health Sci. 2022 Jul;11(4):479-494. doi: 10.1016/j.jshs.2022.06.001. Epub 2022 Jun 7. PMID: 35688382; PMCID: PMC9338340.
• Fulghum KL, Smith JB, Chariker J, Garrett LF, Brittian KR, Lorkiewicz PK, McNally LA, Uchida S, Jones SP, Hill BG, Collins HE. Metabolic signatures of pregnancy-induced cardiac growth. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2022 Jul 1;323(1):H146-H164. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00105.2022. Epub 2022 May 27. PMID: 35622533; PMCID: PMC9236881.
• Collins HE, Zhang D, Chatham JC. STIM and Orai Mediated Regulation of Calcium Signaling in Age-Related Diseases. Front Aging. 2022 Apr 19;3:876785. doi: 10.3389/fragi.2022.876785. PMID: 35821821; PMCID: PMC9261457.
• Collins HE, Anderson JC, Wende AR, Chatham JC. Cardiomyocyte stromal interaction molecule 1 is a key regulator of Ca²⁺ -dependent kinase and phosphatase activity in the mouse heart. Physiol Rep. 2022 Feb;10(4):e15177. doi: 10.14814/phy2.15177. PMID: 35179826; PMCID: PMC8855923.
• Bamber D, Collins HE, Powell C, Gonçalves GC, Johnson S, Manktelow B, Ornelas JP, Lopes JC, Rocha A, Draper ES. Development of a data classification system for preterm birth cohort studies: the RECAP Preterm project. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2022 Jan 7;22(1):8. doi: 10.1186/s12874-021-01494-5. PMID: 34996382; PMCID: PMC8742427.
• Zou L, Collins HE, Young ME, Zhang J, Wende AR, Darley-Usmar VM, Chatham JC. The Identification of a Novel Calcium-Dependent Link Between NAD⁺ and Glucose Deprivation-Induced Increases in Protein O-GlcNAcylation and ER Stress. Front Mol Biosci. 2021 Dec 7;8:780865. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.780865. PMID: 34950703; PMCID: PMC8691773.
• Jenic D, Waller H, Collins H, Erridge C. Reversal of Tetracycline Resistance by Cepharanthine, Cinchonidine, Ellagic Acid and Propyl Gallate in a Multi-drug Resistant Escherichia coli. Nat Prod Bioprospect. 2021 Jun;11(3):345-355. doi: 10.1007/s13659-020-00280-y. Epub 2020 Nov 3. PMID: 33141306; PMCID: PMC8141080.