Nancy Collins

Nancy Collins is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), part of the College of Letters & Science. She holds leadership roles as Chair of the university Human Subjects Committee and the Quantitative Methods in Social Sciences (QMSS) program. Her research focuses on close relationships, social cognition, and health psychology, with emphasis on caregiving processes, psychosocial health, and attachment theory. Dr. Collins has been funded by prestigious agencies including the National Science Foundation and NIH, and her recent work explores virtual reality for improving elderly care.

Education: BA in Psychology from UCLA, PhD in Social Psychology from USC, Postdoctoral Fellowship in Health Psychology at UCLA. Her teaching includes courses on close relationships, research methods, and statistics.

Key Research Themes:

• Social support and caregiving in adult relationships
• Psychosocial factors influencing health across the lifespan
• Attachment theory and social perception
• Virtual reality applications in healthcare

Awards: Multiple teaching awards (including Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award) and research honors such as the SPSP Theoretical Innovation Prize. She is a Fellow of APS, SESP, and SPSP.

Grants/Advising: Current clinical trial on VR for elderly quality of life (NIA-funded). Not accepting students for 2023-2024. Active collaborations with UCSB Communication and industry partners like Rendever, Inc.

Labs: Director of the UCSB Close Relationships Lab, integrating experimental, observational, and virtual reality methodologies.