[1] She studied psychology as an undergraduate at Purdue University, completing all prerequisites for medical school, and minoring in French language.
Collins received funding for summer research placement in Haiti at the Haitian Group for the Study of Kaposi's Sarcoma and Opportunistic Infections[2] Seeking a more in-depth research experience during medical school, she applied for and received a Pew Fellowship in the laboratory of Jules Hirsch at Rockefeller University, where she studied the effects of estrogen on adipocyte fatty-acid binding protein.
During her research fellowship, she completed a master's degree in public health from Columbia University.
[2] At the turn of the 21st century, Collins worked with the NIMH to conduct HIV care and prevention trials.
[2] She also worked as an assistant professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health where she co-founded a six-month practicum in a developing nation.