Sarah Collins
- Assistant Teaching Professor
- Undergraduate Program Director of Community Health
- School of Education and Human Sciences, Department of Health, Sport & Exercise Sciences
Contact Info
Personal Links
Biography —
Dr. Sarah L. Collins is the Undergraduate Program Director of Community Health Program and Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Kansas. Dr. Collins earned her Bachelor of Public Health, Master of Public Health in Social and Behavioral Sciences and PhD in Public Health, Social and Behavioral Sciences from the University of Florida. Her research interests reside in public health curriculum, instruction, and pedagogy, where she focuses on utilizing qualitative research methods to explore diversity, equity, inclusion and antiracism within higher education. Additionally, Dr. Collins has held a variety of community-based positions such as working at Suwannee River Area Health Education Center as a Health Insurance Marketplace Navigator and later transitioning to the role of Health Educator & Special Projects Coordinator. As the Health Educator & Special Projects Coordinator, she managed a Florida Department of Health, Office of Minority Health grant that sought to educate ethnic and racial minority senior adults living in Bradford and Union counties on their oral health. Dr. Collins continued her community work with the Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition, educating and engaging with mothers and fathers in the local Jacksonville, Florida community about maternal and child health. Within the classroom, it is Dr. Collins position to celebrate the values of human diversity and pledge to co-construct and co-sustain an inclusive learning environment that empowers students to engage in safe and brave conversations regarding diversity, social justice, lived experiences, and critical action to achieve health equity for all populations. In having these conversations, she aims to prioritize, empower, and amplify the voices of the diverse student body that she has the privilege of educating, as well as the community members and partners we engage and serve.
Education —
Research —
Public health pedagogy, instruction and curriculum; Diversity, equity, inclusion and antiracism; Qualitative research methods; Innovative teaching strategies; Health equity and social justice.
Teaching —
- HSES 430: Foundations of Health Education
- HSES 279: Introduction to Community Health
- HSES 365: Peer Health Education
- HSES 466: Program Planning
- HSES 578: Community Health Internship Seminar
- HSES 580: Community Health Internship
Selected Publications —
Collins, S.L., Allen, A., Smith, T.C., Hack, G., Stetten, N.E., Moorhouse, M.D. (Under Review) Beyond Accreditation: Unraveling the Narrative of Public Health through a Critical Race Praxis Lens. Frontiers in Public Health.
Wood, E.A., Case, S., Collins, S.L., Stark, H., Wilfong, T. (2024) From Traditional to Transactional: Exploration of Khat Use in Ethiopia through an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. BMC Public Health, 24(1), 1887.
Collins, S. L., Case, S.J., Rodriguez, A.K., Allen, A.C., & Wood, E. A. (2023). Cultivating critical consciousness through a Global Health Book Club. Frontiers in Education, 8:1173703. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1173703
Collins, S.L., Smith, T.C., Hack, G., & Moorhouse, M.D. (2023) Exploring public health education’s integration of critical race theories: A scoping review. Frontiers in Public Health, 11:1148959. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1148959
LeBeau K., Collins S., Zori G.., Walker D, Marchi E., Pomeranz J.L., Hart M. (2023). Evaluating a novel hospital-based online health community to address palliative and psychosocial care factors for chronically ill adolescent and young adult patients. Palliative and Supportive Care. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478951523000147
Case, S., Collins, S.L., Wood, E.A. (2022). Global health-based virtual exchange to improve intercultural competency: Long-lasting impacts and areas for improvement. Frontiers in Public Health, 10:1044487. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1044487
Zori, G., Collins, S.L., Walker, A. (2022). Online Sexual Health Information Seeking of Adolescents: A Content Analysis. American Journal of Sexuality Education. Collins, S.L., Mueller, S., Wood, E.A., Stetten N.E. (2022). Transforming Perspectives through Virtual Exchange: A US[1]Egypt Partnership Part 2. Frontiers in Public Health, 1438. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.880638
Wood, E. A., Collins, S. L., Hechavarria, M., Foti, S., & Hack, G. (2022). The shortfalls of online learning catalyzed by COVID-19: Pre-health students’ perspective. Pedagogical Research, 7(3), em0128. https://doi.org/10.29333/pr/12095
Wood, E. A., Collins, S. L., Mueller, S., Stetten, N., & El-Shokry, M. (2022). Transforming Perspectives through Virtual Exchange: A US-Egypt Partnership Part 1. Frontiers in Public Health, 1343. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.877547
King, L.M., Zori, G., Collins, S.L., Lewis, C., Hack, G., Dixon, B.N., Hart, M. (2022). What does community resilience mean in the context of trauma-informed communities? A scoping review. Journal of Community Psychology, 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22839
Jacobs, K. D., Zori, G., Collins, S. L., & Wood, E. (2021). Exploration of the COVID-19 Content within a Vaccine Choice Social Media Platform: A Case Study. Journal of Consumer Health on the Internet, 25(4), 366-382. https://doi.org/10.1080/15398285.2021.1983713
Salinas-Miranda, A., King, L., Salihu, H., Wilson, R., Nash, S., Collins, S.L., ... & Baldwin, J. (2020). Protective Factors using the Life Course Perspective in Maternal and Child Health: A Community-Based Participatory Research Approach. ENGAGE! Co-created Knowledge Serving the City, 1(3).
Selected Presentations —
Wood, E.A., Collins, S.L. (Accepted, Anticipated November 7 – 9, 2024). The Power & Opportunity of STEM Designation in Global Health Education. Facilitated discussion at the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AACU) 2024 Transforming STEM Conference. Arlington, Virginia.
Wood, E.A., Collins, S.L., Nappy, M. (Accepted, Anticipated October 24 – 26, 2024). Leveraging Virtual Reality to Prepare Graduate Students within a Global Health Training Program. Oral presentation at the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AACU) 2024 Conference on Global Learning. Washington, DC.
Collins, S.L., Nedbal, M., Fowles, M. (August 22, 2024). Leveraging KU Core 34 through Teaching Innovation within the Jayhawk College Experience. Oral presentation at the University of Kansas 2024 Teaching Summit. Lawrence, KS.
Case, S.J., Wood, E.A., Collins, S.L. (2023). Bolstering intercultural competency in students through a global health-based virtual exchange: A qualitative follow-up study. Poster presentation at American Schools & Programs of Public Health (ASPPH). Arlington, VA.
LeBeau, K.M., Collins, S.L., Zori, G. (March 2022). Investigating online social support among chronically ill adolescent and young adult patients using a virtual hospital-based gaming intervention. Poster presentation at American Schools & Programs of Public Health (ASPPH). Virtual.
Collins S.L., Agrawal K., Carr C., King L.M. (October 2021). The importance of intersectionality within sexual and gender minority health: Inclusive teaching strategies in public health curricula. Poster presentation at the American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting & Expo. Denver, Colorado.
King, L.M., Collins, S.L., Stone, B., Zori, G., Dixon, B., Hart, M., Stetten, N. (October 2021). ACEs, trauma-informed, and resilience-based public health graduate curriculum at the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health professions. Poster presentation at the American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting & Expo. Denver, Colorado.
King, L.M., Zori, G., Collins, S.L., Lewis, C., Hack, G., Vacca, R., Blue, A., Hart, M. (October 2021). What does community resilience mean in the context of trauma-informed communities? A scoping review. Poster presentation at the American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting & Expo. Denver, Colorado.
Wood, E., Collins, S., & Tracy, N. (October 2021). Assessing Greek life experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Oral presentation at the American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting & Expo. Denver, Colorado.
Collins, S.L. & Wood, E.A. (March 23 – 25, 2021). Student Experiences During a Rapid Immersion into Distance Delivery as a Result of COVID-19. Poster presentation at American Schools & Programs of Public Health (ASPPH). Virtual.
King, L.M., Agrawal, K., Collins, S.L., Carr, C. (March 2021). Implementation of an intersectional sexual and gender public health curriculum for graduate students. Poster presentation at University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions Diversity Day, Gainesville, Florida.
Wood, E. & Collins, S.L. (January 20 – 23, 2021). Controlling Contagions through Virtual Exchange. Oral presentation at the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AACU) Conference. Virtual.
King, L.M., Salinas-Miranda, A.A., Collins, S.L., Zori, G., Wilson, R., Berry, E.L., Salihu, H.M. (October 2020). Community residents’ perceptions of fathers’ health using community-based participatory research focus groups and the life-course perspective. Oral presentation at the American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting & Expo. San Francisco, California. Virtual.
Awards & Honors —
UCCC’s Christopher Haufler Innovation Fellowship Award Summer 2024
HSES’s Joyce Elaine Pauls Morgan Excellence in Teaching Award Spring 2024
KU Center for Teaching Excellence Faculty Seminar on Equitable & Inclusive Teaching Spring 2024
Delta Omega Inductee, Beta Upsilon Chapter April 2020
Exemplary Student Award Recipient for the University of Florida Master of Public Health May 2019
Social and Behavioral Science Outstanding Student Recipient May 2019
Memberships —
American Public Health Association
Society for Public Health Education
Delta Omega Public Health Honor Society