Zachary S. Collins, MD

Professor, Radiology
zcollins@kumc.eduProfessional Background
Zachary S Collins, MD is a radiologist and the section head and fellowship director for Interventional Radiology at The University of Kansas Hospital. With more than 19 years of professional experience as a practicing physician, Dr. Collins specializes in practicing Interventional Radiology. His primary responsibilities include treating patients using minimally invasive techniques using image guidance (x-ray, ultrasound, and computed tomography). Dr. Collins has extensive experience in uterine fibroid embolization, angiography, angioplasty, stenting, TIPS, Y-90 radioembolization, chemoembolization (TACE) of liver tumors, thermal ablation of solid organ tumors, and many more minimally invasive procedures.
Dr. Collins became involved in his profession because of his interest in medical imaging and the ability to perform complex surgical procedures using minimally invasive image guided techniques. His passion is Y-90 radioembolization. This technique gives hope to many patients with metastatic or primary cancer of the liver and has seen many great outcomes over the years. He has done extensive research on Y-90 and travels the nation teaching other physicians how to best administer it.
Dr. Collins received his MD from The University of Kansas Medical Center in 2002 and completed his residency in Diagnostic Radiology at KUMC in 2008. He completed his fellowship in Interventional Radiology in 2009. He has been on staff at KUMC since 2009. He is affiliated with the Society of Interventional Radiology, the Radiological Society of North America, and the Greater Kansas City Radiological Society. Dr. Collins stays current with the trends in his profession by doing investigative research, attending training seminars and reading industry-related publications.
Research
Overview
As evidenced by my record of scholarly activity, I have been quite productive in research. I have been involved in or spearheaded research in a total of 36 clinical trials, and have 47 published articles, abstracts or posters, despite a heavy clinical practice. As an Interventional Radiology physician, the clinical demand requires 15-18 hour days with very frequent call responsibilities.
My articles have appeared in prestigious journals like, Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology and Neurogastroenterology and Motility. I have presented at the Radiology Society of North America, the largest conference for radiology in the world and the World Conference of Interventional Oncology, a premier international conference. Further, I have numerous posters and oral presentations, presented at national and international conferences at Society of Interventional Radiology, Society of Nuclear Medicine and International Symposium of Endovascular Therapy. I have been the principal investigator or sub-investigator and many clinical and retrospective research projects.
In becoming IR section head and IR fellowship director at KUMC, this allowed me to mentor a multitude of residents and fellows and guide them through the research process. Teaching my students the basic tenets and methods of scientific research has always been a truly rewarding experience. Many posters and oral presentations have been given over the years in my subspecialty of interventional radiology in venues as stated above. Dr. Philip Johnson has committed resources to developing a state of the art research department from the ground up. Working together, we were able to hire a research director as well as several dedicated full time research assistants and a biostatistical analysis team. This laid the groundwork for running a robust research operation.