Dr. Chava Kurtz

Meet the Graduate: Dr. Chava Kurtz

When and where did you complete your degree?

I completed my PhD at the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine of Bar-Ilan University. My research examined patient participation in in-center hemodialysis care and was supervised by Dr. Spitzer, Prof. Skorecki, and Prof. Shadmi from Haifa University. I am very grateful for their guidance and support throughout the process.

My clinical background as a nephrology nurse strongly influenced the questions I chose to study, particularly how patients can be more actively involved in their care while taking into account the professional, organizational, and safety-related realities of dialysis treatment.

Where are you today, and what are you working on?

I continue to work as a clinical nurse in hemodialysis and am currently conducting postdoctoral research at the University of Haifa under the supervision of Prof. Zisberg.

A central part of my postdoctoral work is within STAGE, a Horizon Europe-funded research project exploring how people can remain healthier as they age and how multimorbidity may be prevented or delayed. The project takes a life-course approach, examining how biological, environmental, social, historical, and infrastructural factors shape healthy ageing.

My work focuses particularly on health equity, self-care, and the ways healthcare policies, services, and digital technologies can better support healthy ageing and people living with complex health conditions.

How did your advanced degree help you?

The PhD taught me how to turn questions arising from clinical practice into structured research. It also introduced me to implementation science, which asks not only whether an intervention works, but how it can be put into practice in different settings and within the complexity of real-world healthcare. Along the way, I developed skills in qualitative research, evidence synthesis, academic writing, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

What connects your doctoral and current research?

The common thread is an interest in how people can be supported to take a more active role in their health, and how healthcare systems can make this possible in practice. My doctoral research explored this in the context of hemodialysis, while my current work extends these questions to self-care, healthy ageing, multimorbidity, equity, and digital health.