On September 1, the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Department of Pediatrics saw one of its most accomplished faculty members, and one of the world’s leading childhood-asthma researchers, take the leadership role of the Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Rheumatology. Daniel Jackson, MD, professor in the division, now serves as its chief.
Jackson is in nearly every sense a product of Wisconsin. A native of the state, he earned both his undergraduate degree in biochemistry and his medical degree at UW–Madison, and after a pediatrics residency at the University of California, Davis, he returned to the UW for fellowship training in allergy and immunology. He joined the faculty in 2010 and has built his research program here ever since, and it has grown into one of the most influential in the field.
The reach of that research is national and international. Jackson is principal investigator of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)-funded Inner City Asthma Consortium and of the Childhood Asthma in Urban Settings (CAUSE) Research Network Leadership Center, a seven-year, $49 million effort, and has led or co-led NIH trials and studies across the AsthmaNet, CREW, and PrecISE networks aimed at the prevention and improved treatment of childhood asthma. His scholarship spans more than 200 peer-reviewed papers in journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, and The Lancet.
Much of Jackson’s record traces its genesis to the Childhood Origins of Asthma (COAST) study, which Jackson joined as a medical student and took over as principal investigator in 2016. His first-author COAST paper identifying early-life rhinovirus wheezing as a major risk factor for childhood asthma — a finding that overturned prevailing assumptions — has been cited more than 1,000 times. He went on to lead a multicenter study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2018, showing that the long-standard practice of temporarily quintupling inhaled corticosteroids during a flare did not prevent attacks. That result changed clinical practice worldwide. A research paper in the August 2025 JAMA Pediatrics uncovered the additional inflammatory pathways that keep driving asthma attacks in urban children even when mepolizumab, a biologic therapy, is working as intended. It’s an advance that Jackson said, “opens the door to identify more personalized and targeted strategies for both the treatment and prevention of asthma attacks in children.”
That combination of rigor and reach has drawn attention and recognition. Jackson has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation, among the nation’s most prestigious honors for physician-scientists, and to the Collegium Internationale Allergologicum, and this year he received a WARF Named Professorship, one of the highest honors the university bestows. He chose to name the chair the “Robert F. Lemanske, Jr. Professor of Pediatrics,” after his former mentor, who founded the COAST study Jackson would go on to lead. The nomination letter for that professorship describes Jackson simply as “a leading clinical and translational investigator worldwide in childhood asthma.”
For more than a decade, Jackson has also been active in teaching and mentoring within the department: guiding medical students, residents, fellows, and junior faculty — many who now lead programs of their own — and serving on the committees that shape faculty careers. His clinical work centers on preschool wheezing and childhood asthma, with particular attention to children with severe disease.
Get to know Jackson: view his online profile and read the Q&A below.
How did you decide to become a physician?
My dad was a high school science teacher, and my mom was a nurse manager. I worked in the hospital in high school and was inspired by several of the family medicine physicians that I had the opportunity to interact with, both as a patient and in the hospital.
Your hometown?
Beaver Dam, Wisconsin
Your previous position?
Here (Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Allergy, Immunology & Rheumatology)
Why did you choose the field of pediatrics?
My first rotation as a third-year medical student at SMPH was in pediatrics. I found myself comparing all of the rest of my experiences to taking care of children. It is a privilege to help shape their lives from a young age — disease prevention is such an important part of the work we do. The resilience of children even in the most difficult circumstances makes pediatrics particularly rewarding for me.
What attracted you to UW–Madison?
The people. I came back to Madison for my AI fellowship in 2007 and have never left! The collaboration and collegiality are unique, and I have been fortunate to work with amazing mentors, colleagues, nurses, research teams, and other staff over the past 20 years.
What are you most excited to start working on as chief of the Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Rheumatology?
I am extremely proud of all of the successes that our division has had over the years and the innovative programs our faculty are leading. I am most excited to help grow the “next generation” in our division, both through recruiting new faculty to help support all of the missions of our department and by supporting career development opportunities for our current faculty and trainees.
Do you have ongoing research? If so, how will you continue your efforts?
My research program studies childhood asthma — we are currently focused on mechanistic studies integrated into observational studies and clinical trials in order to develop personalized approaches to the treatment and prevention of asthma and other allergic diseases. I will continue to work with my many talented collaborators and study teams to keep these important efforts moving forward!
How do you think the role of division chief will influence your goals as a physician?
I am most excited about the role of division chief because of my major goals as a physician-scientist at this point in my career — to more effectively support and promote the career development and successes of trainees, early-career faculty, and other colleagues. I’ve been fortunate to have tremendous mentors throughout my career and want to continue to pay it forward.
What is your favorite food?
Pizza — it is my son’s favorite as well, so we have too much of it!
What are some of your hobbies and other interests?
Golf — with family and friends. Cooking. I am a big Wisconsin sports fan!
Photo by Kate Feldt/Department of Pediatrics