Eileen Collins

Eileen Collins develops interventions to reduce symptoms and improve the quality of life for patients with chronic illness. She uses exercise to increase tolerance in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes and chronic renal failure. She also utilizes breathing retraining combined with exercise to reduce the trapping of air in the lungs and labored breathing.

Eileen Collins

Collins and her colleagues developed a first-of-its-kind controlled study to determine whether patients with COPD could exercise longer if they were engaged in ventilation feedback; ventilation feedback along with a regular exercise program; or exercise alone.

Throughout her distinguished career, Collins has amassed more than $22 million in research funding. Her work has been published in such prestigious journals as the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, and Intensive Care Medicine, among others.

In 2016, Collins was one of 19 nurse researchers throughout the world to be inducted into the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame. She has also been named a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation.

Subject areas:

• Rehabilitation science
• Quality of life
• Chronic diseases