Melanie Sue Collins, MD

Education

Education:
BS/BA, University of Connecticut, 1997
MD, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, 2002
Residency:
Pediatrics, University of Connecticut, 2002-2005
Fellowship:
Pediatric Pulmonology, University of Connecticut, 2005-2008

Board Certifications

Faculty Appointment

Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Connecticut School of Medicine

Clinical Expertise

Dr. Collins is the Director of the Pediatric Pulmonary Fellowship Program. She is also the Director of the Cardiopulmonary Testing Laboratory that provides pulmonary function testing as well as cardiac stress testing. Dr. Collins is the Associate Director of the Central Connecticut Cystic Fibrosis Center and Clinical Director of the cystic fibrosis newborn screening program and a member of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) Special Interest Group on newborn screening. She is a Skills Champion for the CFF Partnership Enhancement Program.

Dr. Collins became Fellowship Director in July 2020. She has recently started the Pediatric Pulmonary Fellowship Diversity/Inclusion Committee to help broaden the depth of the program. She has enrolled the Fellowship Program in two national studies to improve the quality of the evaluation process of our fellows and to provide a dynamic telemedicine curriculum to fellows. Her goal is to expand and enhance the individuality of the program.

In 2014, Dr. Collins co-chaired a symposium on care of the young child with cystic fibrosis at the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference. She is also part of the CF patient and family advisory board and the Connecticut Children’s QI team, which has been featured in CFF educational materials and presents nationally.

Dr. Collins collaborates with Dr. Tom Murray at Yale to investigate bacterial aerosolization from patient nebulizers in the laboratory setting. They also investigate the most efficient/effective methods of disinfecting nebulizers for cystic fibrosis patients.

Although she is very focused on cystic fibrosis, Dr. Collins has great passion for caring for all children with complex medical conditions and educating the next generation of pediatric pulmonologists. She strives to maximize patients’ respiratory function (and minimize their treatments) so that they can lead happy and healthy lives. She is a member of the American Thoracic Society.

Selected Publications

• Collins, Melanie Sue. “Sinus Disease in Cystic Fibrosis.” Infectious Diseases in Pediatric Otolaryngology. Ed. Tulio Valdez, Jesus Vallejo. Switzerland: Springer International, 2016. 121-33.

• An evaluation strategy for potential QTc prolongation with chronic azithromycin therapy in cystic fibrosis.  Lenehan PJ, Schramm CM, Collins MS.  J Cyst Fibros. 2015 Dec 11.

• Sayej, W. and Melanie Sue Collins. Failure to Thrive in a Teenage Boy.  Medical News. September 2015 2.

• SM Hopfer, Heather Jean Stalker and Melanie Sue Collins. Genetic Counseling via Telemedicine in a Newborn Screening Program – A Novel Approach.  Ann Clin Lab Sci (July –August) 2015 45: 467

• Kaleel, M., Pascal, M., O’Loughlin, M., Schramm, CM, Collins, MS.  Serial Lung

• Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Monitor Disease Progression in a Child with a Diffuse Alveolar Hemorrhage Syndrome J Clin Med Res. 2015 Apr;7(4):267-9.

• Sinisgalli S, Collins, MS, Schramm, CS Clinical features cannot distinguish allergic from non-allergic asthma in children. J of Asthma 2012 Feb;49(1) 51-6.

• Collins, MS, Schramm, CS et al. Asthma. Consensus in Pediatrics. 2010.

• Collins, MS, Abbott, M., Wakefield, DB, Lapin, CD, Drapeau, G., Hopfer, SM, Greenstein, RM, Cloutier, MM, Improved Pulmonary Function And Growth Outcomes With Early Diagnosis Of Cystic Fibrosis By Newborn Screening. Pediatric Pulmonology 2008 Jul;43(7):648-55.

• Collins, M, Feder, HM. How Connecticut Primary Care Physicians View Treatments for Streptococcal and Nonstreptococcal Pharyngitis. Clinical Therapeutics 2008; 30(1): 158-163.

• Carroll CL, Smith SR, Collins MS, Bhandari A, Schramm CM, Zucker, AR. Endotracheal intubation and pediatric status asthmaticus: Site of original care affects treatment. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2007; 8(2): 91-95.

• Collins, Melanie Sue; Simeoneau, Tregony, Curtis, Rosemarie; Schramm, CS; Lapin, Craig D.; Chronic Therapies for Cystic Fibrosis North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference, Phoenix, Arizona 2015.

• Lenehan, Patrick; Lapin, Craig D.; Drapeau, Ginny; Leopold, Harris; Bhandari, Anita; Schramm, Craig; Collins, Melanie Sue. QTc Prolongation in Chronic Azithromycin Therapy-A Rational Monitoring Approach North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference, Salt Lake City Utah 2013.