Donna Bryant, PhD, is a senior research scientist at Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Recent research projects include evaluations of quality indicators, Quality Rating and Improvement Systems, a 5-state study of the Partnerships for Inclusion model of quality enhancement, and an evaluation of Georgia's child care licensing and monitoring system. She co-leads with Noreen Yazejian, PhD, the national evaluation of the Educare Learning Network of Educare centers and a randomized control study of the Educare intervention. She participated in the Nuestros Niños research and in an evaluation of North Carolina's MIECHV home visiting program.

Donna has conducted studies of center-based child care, family child care, and family and health services as well as home visiting programs that provide early intervention and prevention for at-risk children. She has conducted a number of studies with Head Start with the Head Start Quality Research Center Consortium and the Head Start Mental Health Consortium, as well as a study of the Partners for a Healthy Baby home visiting curriculum with several North Carolina Early Head Start programs. From 1993-2003, she led the evaluation team for North Carolina's comprehensive Smart Start initiative. Donna has authored many papers and chapters on early intervention and early childhood education and is the co-author of two books, one on home visiting and another on early intervention. Current interests include home visiting evaluations, states' implementation of Quality Rating and Improvement Systems, professional development content and systems, and translating research to policy.