I am a substance use prevention scientist and methodologist. My long-range career goal is to prevent drug abuse by improving the validity of the scientific conclusions drawn in drug abuse prevention research. I have advanced this goal for 20 years through my research program in cutting-edge methodology for drug abuse prevention science applications. I have also advanced this goal through my scientific leadership, for example in my role as Director of The Methodology Center at Penn State. At this juncture I am eager to pursue two exciting new directions in my research program. The first direction involves Latent Transition Analysis (LTA), a statistical procedure I developed for fitting and testing stage-sequential models in longitudinal substance use data. I plan to begin an extended series of improvements and expansions of LTA, based on innovative Bayesian procedures. These improvements will broaden the usefulness of LTA to the drug abuse research field. The second new direction addresses the issue of how to optimize the potency of prevention programs. Sequential experimentation, a methodological perspective from engineering, holds much promise for tackling this issue. Sequential experimentation will allow prevention scientists to address a comprehensive series of related scientific questions within an accelerated time frame and with reduced resource requirements, then apply the results in a timely manner to optimize preventive interventions. I plan to lay the groundwork for a line of research in adapting sequential experimentation procedures for use in drug abuse prevention research. The Senior Scientist award will take place primarily at Penn State, a major research university with a large NIH portfolio and a rich intellectual environment, particularly in prevention science. Penn State has committed outstanding support to this Senior Scientist award from NIDA, in order to enable me to devote a minimum of 90 percent of my time to research, mentoring of other prevention scientists and outreach to the field.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Research Scientist Award (K05)
Project #
5K05DA018206-03
Application #
7100948
Study Section
Human Development Research Subcommittee (NIDA)
Program Officer
Ginexi, Elizabeth M
Project Start
2004-08-01
Project End
2009-07-31
Budget Start
2006-08-01
Budget End
2007-07-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2006
Total Cost
$123,444
Indirect Cost
Name
Pennsylvania State University
Department
Miscellaneous
Type
Schools of Allied Health Profes
DUNS #
003403953
City
University Park
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
16802
Evans-Polce, Rebecca; Lanza, Stephanie; Maggs, Jennifer (2016) Heterogeneity of alcohol, tobacco, and other substance use behaviors in U.S. college students: A latent class analysis. Addict Behav 53:80-5
Dziak, John J; Nahum-Shani, Inbal; Collins, Linda M (2012) Multilevel factorial experiments for developing behavioral interventions: power, sample size, and resource considerations. Psychol Methods 17:153-75
Collins, Linda M; Dziak, John J; Li, Runze (2009) Design of experiments with multiple independent variables: a resource management perspective on complete and reduced factorial designs. Psychol Methods 14:202-24
Collins, Linda M; Chakraborty, Bibhas; Murphy, Susan A et al. (2009) Comparison of a phased experimental approach and a single randomized clinical trial for developing multicomponent behavioral interventions. Clin Trials 6:5-15
Lanza, Stephanie T; Collins, Linda M (2008) A new SAS procedure for latent transition analysis: transitions in dating and sexual risk behavior. Dev Psychol 44:446-56
Collins, Linda M; Murphy, Susan A; Strecher, Victor (2007) The multiphase optimization strategy (MOST) and the sequential multiple assignment randomized trial (SMART): new methods for more potent eHealth interventions. Am J Prev Med 32:S112-8
Lanza, Stephanie T; Collins, Linda M; Lemmon, David R et al. (2007) PROC LCA: A SAS Procedure for Latent Class Analysis. Struct Equ Modeling 14:671-694
Maldonado-Molina, Mildred M; Collins, Linda M; Lanza, Stephanie T et al. (2007) Patterns of substance use onset among Hispanics in Puerto Rico and the United States. Addict Behav 32:2432-7
Collins, Linda M (2006) Analysis of longitudinal data: the integration of theoretical model, temporal design, and statistical model. Annu Rev Psychol 57:505-28
Lanza, Stephanie T; Collins, Linda M (2006) A mixture model of discontinuous development in heavy drinking from ages 18 to 30: the role of college enrollment. J Stud Alcohol 67:552-61