Age: 37
Occupation: Nurse-Scientist and Assistant Professor, Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary
In 2020, Jennifer Jackson, armed with a PhD in nursing research, came on board at University of Calgary as an assistant professor. She immediately took on a significant challenge: addressing the way the city deals with the 80,000 needles from drug use discarded locally each year. At the time, public needle bins were emptied by the fire department’s hazmat unit, an expensive process that didn’t address the needs of the vulnerable communities of people who use drugs.
Jackson has chronic fatigue and pain as a result of a condition that she was diagnosed with in her early 20s. This invisible disability inspires her to work towards creating more inclusive communities: “I know what it’s like to be excluded,” she says.
To address the needle debris, Jackson brought together several organizations, including the Calgary Fire Department, Safeworks Connect and The City of Calgary, and, together, the team pivoted to having Alpha House Society (a local aid agency) take over emptying the needle bins. This move reduced costs, allowed firefighters to focus on other priorities and increased the presence of outreach workers (Alpha House provides food, support and resources to people experiencing drug addiction and homelessness) to support the communities.
“My work has put the right workers in the right place, and saved Calgarian taxpayers’ money,” Jackson says.
In her first four years of being a professor, Jackson has published 50 peer-reviewed publications in academic journals, including a high-profile cost analysis of a supervised consumption site. She also studied health-care workers affected by the overdose crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.
She is proud to be a self-described “radical pragmatist” who speaks publicly on health-care issues. “My work demonstrates that nurses are experts,” she says, “and that nurses, women and disabled people are serious contributors to public discourse.”
Thank yous
“My family, friends and colleagues at the Faculty of Nursing and UCalgary; Carla, Twyla and everyone at Wishes. Keep going!”
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