Barbara J. Jackson, PhD is an emeritus professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Jackson retired in 2021 as the Director of the MMI Department of Education and Child Development where she was the primary investigator for multiple federal, regional and state funded projects that focused on: national literacy and parent education, newborn screening, mental health consultation in child care settings, school-based early childhood and home visitation. These evaluation studies provided a diverse array of data that has been used to improve practices, as well as, opportunities for translational research.

Jackson worked in the field of early intervention for more than 40 years, specializing in working with infants with chronic illness and disabilities. One of her many accomplishments was directing a statewide clinical outcome project, Developmental Tracking Infant Progress Statewide Program, which is a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit follow-up project initiated in 2000 that has since provided a rich basis for translational research related to premature infants. Her clinical expertise was in assessments of young children, provision of evidenced-based interventions in home-based and hospital settings, family-centered practices and supporting parent-child interactions.