Kathleen L. Collins
The information listed below is current as of the date the transcript was finalized.
Interview Details
Interview Sessions
Abstract of Interview
Kathleen L. Collins grew up in Norwell, Massachusetts, a small town near Boston, the second of four children. Her father was a teacher and an assistant principal. Her mother was a nurse until she stayed home with her children; when they were in their teens she became a day care provider. Her parents were devout Roman Catholics, and religion played a large part in Collins' life. Collins attended Norwell's public schools, which she considers very good. She found that she loved chemistry and was strongly influenced by her chemistry teacher. Collins played team sports during her high school years, and she still loves to exercise when she has time. Her parents felt that education was extremely important, and they helped Collins decide to attend Wellesley College. She began in chemistry but discovered biology, particularly molecular biology, and worked in Andrew C. Webb's molecular biology laboratory for her honor's thesis. She also worked on cloning Interleukin-1 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and she felt she wanted to be in the lab all the time. Having wanted to be a doctor since she was a little girl, Collins applied to and was accepted at Johns Hopkins University Medical School; she deferred her start date for a year to finish her lab work and ended up being accepted into the Medical Scientist Training Program, which paid her tuition for a joint MD/PhD degree. After her second year there she did a clinical rotation at Guys Hospital in London. She did her doctoral research on DNA synthesis in Thomas Kelly's molecular genetics laboratory, mentored by Mark Wold. Collins matched with Brigham and Women's Hospital of Harvard University for her internship and residency and began the process of board certification in internal medicine. She decided to do a postdoctoral fellowship at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in David Baltimore's lab. Collins describes her work in the Baltimore lab; the broader applications of her postdoctoral research on HIV and cytotoxic T-lymphocytes; and David Baltimore's mentoring style. It happens that she also married at this time. Collins accepted a position at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and set up her lab. She discusses the impact of receiving the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences award; gender issues in science; her administrative duties; writing grants; funding, both general and specific; her role in the lab; advice she would give to would-be scientists; publishing; her teaching duties; and her clinical responsibilities. Collins's current research continues in molecular biology, studying the immune response to HIV infection; she plans future research on the biochemical and biological mechanisms of immune responses and latency during viral infection Her professional goals include helping improve science education, which she regards as lacking, encouraging women to become scientists, and helping set a national science agenda. . Her personal goals emphasize the importance of balancing being with her two young children and husband, a cardiologist, with her work in the lab.
Education
Year | Institution | Degree | Discipline |
---|---|---|---|
1985 | Wellesley College | BA | |
1993 | Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine | MD/PhD |
Professional Experience
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Beth Israel Hospital Boston
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Brockton/West Roxbury VA Medical Center
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
University of Michigan Hospital (Michigan Medicine)
VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System
University of Michigan
Honors
Year(s) | Award |
---|---|
1982 | CRC Press Freshman Chemistry Award for Achievement in Chemistry |
1984 | Phi Beta Kappa |
1985 | Medical Scientist Training Program Award |
1985 | M.A. Cartland Shackford Medical Fellowship |
1985 | Wellesley College Trustee Scholar Award for Study in Medicine |
1985 | Wellesley College Durant Scholar |
1985 | BA, Summa cum laude with departmental honors in Molecular Biology; Thesis: "Characterization of the Interleukin- 1 Gene." |
1993 | Johns Hopkins' University Young Investigator's Certificate of Merit Research Award |
1996 to 1997 | Howard Hughes Medical Institute Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for Physicians |
1997 to 2001 | NIH Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award |
1998 | Biomedical Scholars Program Award, University of Michigan |
1998 | Massachusetts Infectious Disease Society Maxwell Finland Young Investigator Award for Excellence in Research |
1999 to 2003 | Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences |
2000 | Center for AIDS Research Development Award |
2001 | Plenary speaker, American Association of Immunology Symposium on Microbial Invasion |
2003 | Padykula Lecturer, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA |
2003 | Plenary speaker, 2004 Keystone Symposia on Molecular Mechanisms of HIV Pathogenesis |
2004 | Chair of the plenary session, Nef Function, 2004 Keystone Symposia on Molecular Mechanisms of HIV Pathogenesis |
2004 | Elizabeth C. Crosby Award |
2005 | Plenary speaker, 2005 ASM Symposia on Viral Immune Evasion |
2005 | Chair of the plenary session, Viral Regulation of Antigen Presentation |
2005 | ASM Symposia on Viral Immune Evasion |
2005 | Plenary speaker, 91st International Titisee Conference "Cell biology meets the immune system: molecular aspects of host pathogen interactions." |
2005 | Elected to The American Society for Clinical Investigation |
2005 | Elizabeth C. Crosby Award |
2006 | Member, NIH AIP study section |
2006 | Plenary speaker, 13th annual Palm Springs Symposium on HIV/AIDS |
2006 | Invited speaker, 2006 Lysosomes and Endocytosis Gordon Conference |
Table of Contents
Growing up in Norwell, Massachusetts. Parents. Siblings. Religion. Influential high school chemistry teacher. Leisure activities. Childhood interests and experiences. Attends Wellesley College. College experiences. Works in Andrew C. Webb's molecular biology laboratory for honor's thesis. Webb's mentoring style. Parental expectations. Attends Johns Hopkins University Medical School. The MD/PhD program at Johns Hopkins. Clinical rotation at Guys Hospital in London. Meets and works for Thomas J. Kelly. Doctoral research in Kelly's molecular genetics laboratory on DNA synthesis. Mark Wold's mentorship.
Match with the Brigham and Women's Hospital of Harvard University for internship and residency. Process of board certification in internal medicine. Reasons for doing a postdoctoral fellowship at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Meets and works for David Baltimore as a postdoctoral fellow. Work in the Baltimore lab. Broader applications of postdoctoral research on HIV and cytotoxic T lymphocytes. David Baltimore's mentoring style. Reasons for becoming a principal investigator. Accepts a position at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Setting up lab. Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences. Gender. Balancing family and career. Administrative duties. Grant-writing process. Funding history.
Current research in molecular biology studying the immune response to HIV infection. Mentoring style. More on David Baltimore's mentoring style. Qualities of a good scientist. Advice to beginning scientists. Writing journal articles. Clinical duties. Teaching responsibilities. Impact on science of reduced funds for research. Professional and personal goals. Future research on the biochemical and biological mechanisms of immune responses and latency during viral infection. Duties to the scientific community. Patents. Setting the national science agenda. Improving science education. Advice to women interested in a career in science.
About the Interviewer
Karen A. Frenkel is a writer, documentary producer, and author specializing in science and technology and their impacts on society. She wrote Robots: Machines in Man’s Image (Harmony 1985) with Isaac Asimov. Her articles have appeared in many magazines and newspapers including The New York Times, CyberTimes, Business Week, Communications Magazine, Discover, Forbes, New Media, Personal Computing, Scientific American, Scientific American MIND, The Village Voice, and Technology Review. Ms. Frenkel’s award-winning documentary films, Net Learning and Minerva’s Machine: Women and Computing aired on Public Television. She has been an interviewer for Columbia University’s Oral History Research Center’s 9/11 Narrative and Memory project, The National Press Foundation’s Oral History of Women in Journalism, and the International Psychoanalytic Institute for Training and Research’s Oral History. Professional memberships include: The Authors Guild, National Association of Science Writers, Writer’s Guild of America East, and New York Women in Film and Television: Past Member of the Board and Director of Programming. Her website is www.Karenafrenkel.com.