Eva Kahana

Eva Kahana is a Distinguished University Professor and Pierce T. and Elizabeth D. Robson Professor of the Humanities in the Department of Sociology at Case Western Reserve University. She has served as Chair of the Department of Sociology since 1985 and directs the Elderly Care Research Center, which she founded in 1967. Her work bridges sociology, medicine, and nursing, with affiliations across multiple schools at CWRU including the School of Medicine and Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing.

Dr. Kahana's educational background includes:

• B.A. in History from Stern College for Women, New York (1962)
• M.A. in Clinical Psychology from City College of C.U.N.Y. (1965)
• Ph.D. in Human Development from University of Chicago (1968)
• Postdoctoral Fellowship at Midwest Council for Social Research in Aging (1967-1968)

Dr. Kahana's research focuses on understanding how older adults cope with various stressors including increasing frailty, relocation, institutionalization, and trauma. She has developed influential models of successful aging based on person-environment congruence and proactive adaptation. Her work spans medical sociology, gerontology, and health care systems, with particular emphasis on health care partnerships involving older adults, caregivers, and providers. She has conducted numerous NIA-funded studies examining how older adults maintain quality of life despite age-related challenges.

Dr. Kahana has received numerous prestigious awards throughout her career:

• Frank and Dorothy Humel Hovorka Prize (2016)
• Outstanding Gerontological Educator in the State of Ohio (2004)
• John S. Diekhoff Distinguished Graduate Teaching Award (2002)
• Polisher Award for Creative Contributions to Applied Gerontology (1997)
• National Institute on Aging Merit Award (1989-1999)
• And many others including the Heller Award and Distinguished Scholar Award from the American Sociological Association

As director of the Elderly Care Research Center, Dr. Kahana has mentored countless students and junior faculty in gerontological research. She has served as faculty mentor to three junior faculty career development awardees in the medical school under National Cancer Institute sponsorship. Her center has secured funding from multiple NIH institutes including the National Cancer Institute, National Institute on Nursing Research, and National Institute on Aging. The ECRC serves as a teaching facility training graduate and postdoctoral students in social gerontological research methods.

The Elderly Care Research Center, founded by Dr. Kahana in 1967, is a multidisciplinary research organization conducting theory-based research on adaptation and well-being of the elderly. The center focuses on health and mental health outcomes of stress, coping, and adaptation, with study samples ranging from frail institutionalized elders to adventurous older adults. ECRC is affiliated with the Center on Aging and Health, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case School of Medicine, and Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at CWRU.