Linda Collins

Linda M. Collins is an American quantitative psychologist who is a professor of global public health at New York University.

Life Collins earned a B.A. in psychology at the University of Connecticut. She received a Ph.D. in quantitative psychology from the University of Southern California.

Research and contributions Dr. Collins is known for her work on the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST), which integrates concepts from engineering, behavioral science, multivariate statistics, health economics, and decision analysis. MOST aims to enhance intervention effectiveness, affordability, scalability, and efficiency. She has applied MOST in diverse areas, including HIV, smoking cessation, prevention of excessive alcohol use in college students, and weight loss.

Her research has received funding from institutions such as the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Collins has published extensively in journals across behavioral sciences, quantitative methodology, medicine, and engineering. She has given over 150 invited presentations on MOST worldwide.