Dr. Mroz is a social-behavioral scientist who specializes in adult development and aging. She holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Florida with a graduate certificate in Gerontology. Following her graduate training, Dr. Mroz completed three years of postdoctoral training in the Section of Geriatrics, Yale School of Medicine, funded by the National Institute on Aging.

Dr. Mroz is a mixed-methods researcher, with skills in both qualitative and quantitative (statistical) analysis. Her program of research focuses on developing interventions, resources, and solutions for individuals, their family members, and their care teams as they navigate serious illness (e.g., dementia, cancer), end of life, and bereavement. 

Dr. Mroz conducts research in partnership with a wide network of other scientists, with clinicians, with community care organizations, and with people with lived experience. She also has a passion for mentoring and for disseminating research to community audiences. She brings a healthcare quality improvement lens, as well as a community engaged participatory research approach, to many of her research endeavors.

Mroz, E. L., Monin, J. K., Gaugler, J. E., Matta-Singh, T. D., & Fried, T. R. (2024). Rewriting the Story of Mid-and Late-Life Family Caregiving: Applying a Narrative Identity Framework. The Gerontologist, 64, gnad040.

Mroz, E. L., Kastrinos, A., Bacharz, K., Fisher, C. L., & Applebaum, A. J. (2024). “A little bit different now”: Impacts of caregiving for parent with cancer on psychosocial development in emerging and young adulthood. Death Studies, 1-12.

Mroz, E. L., Collette, T., Keefe, K., Gil, H., Monin, J., & Sharma, S. (2024). Trajectories of Purpose in Life Across Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease or Related Dementias in Older Adulthood. Journal of Aging and Health.

Mroz, E. L., Piechota, A., Ali, T., Matta‐Singh, T. D., Abboud, A., Sharma, S., ... & Monin, J. K. (2023). “Been there, done that:” A grounded theory of future caregiver preparedness in former caregivers of parents living with dementia. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 71, 1495-1504.

Mroz, E. L., Hernandez-Bigos, K., Esterson, J., Kiwak, E., Naik, A., & Tinetti, M. E. (2023). Acceptability and use of an online health priorities self-identification tool for older adults: A qualitative investigation. PEC innovation, 3, 100242.

Mroz, E. L., McDarby, M., Arnold, R. M., Bylund, C. L., Kutner, J. S., & Pollak, K. I. (2022). Empathic communication in specialty palliative care encounters: an analysis of opportunities and responses. Journal of palliative medicine, 25, 1622-1628.

Mroz, E., Bluck, S., & Smith, K. (2022). Young adults’ perspectives on advance care planning: Evaluating the Death over Dinner initiative. Death Studies, 46, 381-390.

Dr. Mroz has taught and mentored students across many disciplines (e.g., psychology, public health, gerontology, medicine). In the classroom and the lab, she builds discovery-focused environments, promoting critical thinking, pursuit of valuable and relevant knowledge, and humility and equity in collaboration.  Dr. Mroz practice backwards- and universal- design when developing courses, and in all settings, she focuses on tailoring experiences to support learners' goals.

Dr. Mroz has taught in the classroom on adult development and aging, death and dying, palliative care, research methods, and analysis techniques for qualitative data. She also regularly presents research and resources to community audiences.

The proportion of older adults worldwide is continuing to rise. Public health priorities include seeking cost-effective ways to provide older adults with quality of life and appropriate healthcare, despite age- or disease-related functional limitations and losses. 

Dr. Mroz's research focuses on 1) improving patients' and caregivers’ navigation of serious illness (e.g., dementia, cancer), end of life, and bereavement and 2) understanding the influence of illness, caregiving, and bereavement on health behaviors and self-concept.  She has a growing body of work examining how technology (e.g., social media, web-based interventions, artificial intelligence) can support patients and caregivers. 

Dr. Mroz's work draws from multiple theoretical backgrounds. Primarily, she applies a narrative identity lens to her work, recognizing that adults develop subjective, personal stories about experiences related to health, caregiving, and medicine. These subjective stories are powerful drivers of adults' beliefs and behaviors Dr. Mroz's goal is to study these links to develop resources and interventions that help adults form functional narratives, thereby engaging in adaptive behaviors.

Dr. Mroz's work also addresses health communication and decision making, with goals to support productive, dignified, transparent communication and health decision between patients, clinicians, caregivers, and close others in clinical encounters. Her focus is on serious illness and end-of-life communication, which can be complex and emotionally challenging. Dr. Mroz hopes her work will support patients and families to make empowered decisions when faced with terminal illnesses.

National Institute on Aging Loan Repayment Program Awardee

2024-2025: Selected Fellow, University of Minnesota Advanced Behavioral Intervention Design Concentration 

2023- 2024: Selected Trainee, Dementia Palliative Care Clinical Trials Training Program

2023: Selected Trainee, Alzheimer’s Association Summer Research Institute 

2023: Association for Death Education and Counseling Early Achievement Award 

2020: Gerontological Society of America Emerging Scholars Poster Award

‍