Eva M. Garroutte

Eva M. Garroutte is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Boston College, with a 75% research focus and 25% teaching commitment (one course/year). She holds a simultaneous faculty appointment at the Native Elder Research Center, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Her research bridges Native American Studies with health communication, focusing on medical interactions with American Indian elders and cultural identity.

Education: Ph.D. in Sociology from an unspecified institution (dissertation: Language and Cultural Authority: Nineteenth-Century Science and the Colonization of Religious Discourse, 1993).

Research Interests: Medical communication patterns among American Indian elders, cultural identity in Native communities, and sociological analysis of health disparities. Current projects include a book on urban American Indian communities through life narratives and a National Institute on Aging-funded study on health communication in Cherokee Nation clinics.

Grants: Over $750,000 in NIH funding since 2003 for tribal health clinic research. Recent project investigates provider-patient communication biases and patient satisfaction, aiming to design tailored health interventions.

Professional Roles: Editorial board member of Journal of Native Aging and Health; planning committee member for the Smithsonian's Handbook of North American Indians.

Labs/Teams: Collaborates with Cherokee Nation tribal clinics in Oklahoma and the Native Elder Research Center. Research emphasizes community-based participatory methods.