Helen E. Collins Lab

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About

The Helen E. Collins Lab is located at the University of Louisville in the Center for Cardiometabolic Science (Formerly known as the Diabetes and Obesity Center). 
 
Historically, females have been understudied in the context of preclinical and clinical trials, contributing to an overall reduced knowledge of basic female cardiovascular biology and also how the female heart responds to physiological and pathological stress. Therefore, the overall mission of the Helen E. Collins lab is to understand the mechanisms contributing to female cardiovascular health and resilience.  
 
Under this larger thematic focus, the Helen E. Collins lab has several areas of active investigation, they include: 

Understanding the mechanisms that contribute to pregnancy-induced cardiac growth and its reversal. 
 
Pathophysiological and etiological mechanisms of peripartum cardiomyopathy and other pregnancy-associated cardiovascular complications. 
 
The response of the female heart to pathological stressors and mechanisms underlying sex-dependent changes in post-infarction remodeling. 

Team

Avery Kendall, Bioengineering Co-op Student (2023-2025). Master's in engineering student (2025-present)

Grace Roth, Distinction in Research Track Medical Student (2024-present)

Iona Palmer, Deans Research Scholar (2025-present)

Nora Anderson, Research Technician II (2025-present)

Nathan Simpson, Bioengineering Co-op Student (2025-present)

Current Projects 

 

Recent Publications

  • Kendall AN, Palmer IMA, Collins HE. From Bump to Pump: Extracellular Matrix Remodeling, Dynamics, and Biomechanics in the Maternal Heart. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2026 Apr 23. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00917.2025. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 42023424.
  • Jones SP, Collins HE. Sex and Ventricular Remodeling. Curr Opin Physiol. 2026 Mar;47:100895. doi: 10.1016/j.cophys.2025.100895. Epub 2026 Jan 14. PMID: 41710270; PMCID: PMC12912804.
  • Singhal R, Ferrari I, Brainard RE, Brittian KR, Chariker J, Collins HE, Moore JB 4th, Nong Y, Jones SP. Temporal Dynamics in Murine Cardiac Transcriptome Following Myocardial Infarction. Circ Res. 2026 Jan 16;138(2):e327367. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.125.327367. Epub 2025 Dec 18. PMID: 41410034; PMCID: PMC12716377.
  • Reynolds BR, Raph SM, Ramalingam A, Srivastava S, Lorkiewicz P, Watson LE, Brittian KR, Collins HE, Carll AP. Don't go vaping my heart: e-cigarette exposure during pregnancy promotes peripartum ventricular arrhythmias and sympathetic dominance. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2025 Oct 1;329(4):H889-H898. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00509.2025. Epub 2025 Sep 4. PMID: 40908112; PMCID: PMC12591045.
  • Shanmugam G, Chang SF, Collins HE, Ha CM, Kane MS, Potter L, Xie L, Zou L, Zhang J, Chatham JC, Wende AR, Young ME. Severe attenuation of circadian clock output in the heart following sustained augmentation of cardiomyocyte protein O-GlcNAcylation. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2025 Jul 17;12:1601407. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2025.1601407. PMID: 40747493; PMCID: PMC12310464.
  • Kendall AN, Collins HE. Is a decline in myocardial citrullination in the aged female heart really PAD2 the bone? Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2025 Aug 1;329(2):H409-H411. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00469.2025. Epub 2025 Jul 10. PMID: 40637412; PMCID: PMC12487474.
  • Gouwens KR, Pena Calderin E, Okhiria J, Nguyen DC, Schulman-Geltzer EB, Martinez-Ondaro Y, De Silva M, Collins HE, Nong Y, Sears SM, Nystoriak MA, Hill BG. Cardiac Ketone Body Oxidation Enhances Exercise Performance. Circ Res. 2025 Jul 7;137(2):350-353. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.125.326414. Epub 2025 May 28. Erratum in: Circ Res. 2025 Sep 26;137(8):e176. doi: 10.1161/RES.0000000000000732. PMID: 40433703; PMCID: PMC12226228.
  • Collins HE. Maternal cardiovascular research and education should be prioritized in the United States. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2025 Mar 1;328(3):H433-H440. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00751.2024. Epub 2025 Jan 20. PMID: 39832282; PMCID: PMC12256012.
  • Warrington JP, Collins HE, Davidge ST, do Carmo JM, Goulopoulou S, Intapad S, Loria AS, Sones JL, Wold LE, Zinkhan EK, Alexander BT. Guidelines for in vivo models of developmental programming of cardiovascular disease risk. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2024 Jul 1;327(1):H221-H241. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00060.2024. Epub 2024 May 31. PMID: 38819382.
  • Collins HE, Alexander BT, Care AS, Davenport MH, Davidge ST, Eghbali M, Giussani DA, Hoes MF, Julian CG, LaVoie HA, Olfert IM, Ozanne SE, Bytautiene Prewit E, Warrington JP, Zhang L, Goulopoulou S. Guidelines for assessing maternal cardiovascular physiology during pregnancy and postpartum. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2024 Jul 1;327(1):H191-H220. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00055.2024. Epub 2024 May 17. PMID: 38758127.
  • Fulghum KL, Collins HE, Lorkiewicz PK, Cassel TA, Fan TWM, Hill BG. Exercise-induced changes in myocardial glucose utilization during periods of active cardiac growth. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2024 Jun;191:50-62. doi: 10.1016/j.yjmcc.2024.04.014. Epub 2024 May 3. PMID: 38703412; PMCID: PMC11135805.
  • Schulman-Geltzer EB, Fulghum KL, Singhal RA, Hill BG, Collins HE. Cardiac mitochondrial metabolism during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2024 May 1;326(5):H1324-H1335. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00127.2024. Epub 2024 Mar 29. PMID: 38551485.
  • Kane MS, Benavides GA, Osuma E, Johnson MS, Collins HE, He Y, Westbrook D, Litovsky SH, Mitra K, Chatham JC, Darley-Usmar V, Young ME, Zhang J. The interplay between sex, time of day, fasting status, and their impact on cardiac mitochondrial structure, function, and dynamics. Sci Rep. 2023 Dec 7;13(1):21638. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-49018-z. PMID: 38062139; PMCID: PMC10703790.
  • Schulman-Geltzer EB, Collins HE, Hill BG, Fulghum KL. Coordinated Metabolic Responses Facilitate Cardiac Growth in Pregnancy and Exercise. Curr Heart Fail Rep. 2023 Oct;20(5):441-450. doi: 10.1007/s11897-023-00622-0. Epub 2023 Aug 15. PMID: 37581772; PMCID: PMC10589193.
  • Collins HE. Female cardiovascular biology and resilience in the setting of physiological and pathological stress. Redox Biol. 2023 Jul;63:102747. doi: 10.1016/j.redox.2023.102747. Epub 2023 May 16. PMID: 37216702; PMCID: PMC10209889.
  • Ouyang X, Bakshi S, Benavides GA, Sun Z, Hernandez-Moreno G, Collins HE, Kane MS, Litovsky S, Young ME, Chatham JC, Darley-Usmar V, Wende AR, Zhang J. Cardiomyocyte ZKSCAN3 regulates remodeling following pressure-overload. Physiol Rep. 2023 May;11(9):e15686. doi: 10.14814/phy2.15686. PMID: 37144628; PMCID: PMC10161215.
  • Fulghum K, Collins HE, Jones SP, Hill BG. Influence of biological sex and exercise on murine cardiac metabolism. J Sport Health Sci. 2022 Jul;11(4):479-494. doi: 10.1016/j.jshs.2022.06.001. Epub 2022 Jun 7. PMID: 35688382; PMCID: PMC9338340. 

Collins Lab

Division of Environmental Medicine; Center for Cardiometabolic Science

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Phone

502-852-9157 

Location

Delia Baxter Building, Room 321C

Email