Rebecca Jackson

Dr. Rebecca Jackson is a Bridging Fellow in Medical Humanities at Durham University, affiliated with both the Department of Philosophy and the Measurement Lab within the Institute for Medical Humanities and Discovery Research Platform for Medical Humanities. Her interdisciplinary work bridges philosophy, history of science, and medical humanities with a specific focus on measurement practices in clinical contexts.

Dr. Jackson received her doctorate in 2023 from the Department of History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine at Indiana University - Bloomington. During her doctoral studies, she was awarded the 2022-2023 Doan Dissertation Fellow at the Science History Institute and the 2021-2022 John C. Slater Predoctoral Fellow in History of Science, Technology, and Medicine at the American Philosophical Society. Prior to her current position, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Research Group on Practices of Validation in the Biomedical Sciences at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin. Her undergraduate background combines mathematics and creative writing, with a graduate minor in Statistics.

Dr. Jackson's research critically examines measurement practices in science and medicine, particularly focusing on cases where standardization fails but measurement still occurs. Her work questions fundamental assumptions about "accuracy" and "reliability" by engaging with historical cases that challenge conventional notions of measurement. She investigates how physical and temporal aspects of measuring practices are intertwined with the models, notation, and institutions that shape scientific work. Her approach combines philosophical analysis with historical investigation to understand how measurement functions in clinical contexts where standardized approaches may not apply, such as when measuring something individual to a single patient.

Dr. Jackson's publications reveal a consistent focus on non-standard measurement practices throughout medical history, spanning diverse areas including obstetrics (cervimetry), sexual medicine (phallometry), pharmaceutical measurement (the "method of drops"), and psychological experimentation. A common thread is her examination of how measurement succeeds even when theoretical frameworks suggest it shouldn't work, revealing alternative pathways to reliable clinical knowledge.

• Doan Dissertation Fellow at the Science History Institute (2022-2023)
• John C. Slater Predoctoral Fellow at the American Philosophical Society (2021-2022)

Dr. Jackson collaborates with researchers across humanities and human sciences, as reflected in her interdisciplinary publications. Her work in the Measurement Lab at Durham University provides a platform for ongoing research into clinical measurement practices. Her teaching approach is informed by her background in mathematics, creative writing, and statistics, with particular attention to helping students develop skills in data interpretation and critical thinking about measurement practices.

Dr. Jackson is actively involved with the Measurement Lab within the Institute for Medical Humanities and Discovery Research Platform for Medical Humanities at Durham University. This lab serves as a central hub for her research on clinical measuring practices, bringing together historical analysis and philosophical reflection on measurement in medicine. Her work has significant implications for understanding how measurement functions in contexts where standardization is difficult or impossible.