Dr. Jena has received numerous awards and honors, including the George E. Palade Gold Medal and Distinguished Lecture, the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine, the Swebelius Cancer Research Award, the jointly-received Hallim Distinguished Award, the Sir Aaron Klug Award, the American Society for Animal Science Basic Biological Science Award and the Ranbaxy Basic Research in Medical Sciences Award. He was elected as a foreign member of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences, the Korean Academy of Science and Technology, and Romania's National Academy of Medicine. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and WSU's Academy of Scholars, and has received six honorary doctorates, including from Romania's Babes-Bolyai University, jointly with George Palade and Günter Blobel, and distinguished visiting professorships from several academic institutions.