Marguerite Knudtson

Daisy is a clinical research coordinator for the Frontotemporal Dementia: Genes, Images and Emotions Program Project Grant at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center. She received her BA degree from UC Berkeley in Cognitive Neuroscience. There, she worked with Dr. Bob Knight on a study investigating the neurological mechanisms of intentional forgetting, and with Dr. Tania Lombrozo on a study looking at the relationship between one’s beliefs in free will and determinism, and their moral behavior.
 
Daisy went on to work as a Behavioral Therapist for children with developmental disabilities, completed an MS degree in Asian Medicine and received her Acupuncture license. She then worked as an acupuncturist and herbalist, with her practice aimed at serving low-income communities and older populations. While practicing acupuncture, Daisy continued pursuing her research interests with Dr. James Gross where she worked on a project looking at Parental Reflective Functioning in families of children with autism.
 
Daisy plans to pursue a PhD degree in Clinical Psychology with research goals aimed at understanding how childhood experiences impact mental and physical health later in life and exploring interventions for those who experience adverse childhood events.

Publications

Yael Enav, Dana Erhard-Weiss, Amit Goldenberg, Marguerite Knudston, Antonio Y Hardan, James J Gross. Contextual determinants of parental reflective functioning: Children with autism versus their typically developing siblings. Autism. 2020 Aug;24(6):1578-1582. doi: 10.1177/1362361320908096.