Daniel Knight

Daniel is a current doctoral student at The University of Texas at Austin Steve Hicks School of
Social Work. He is a predoctoral fellow funded by a T32 grant from the National Heart, Lung,
and Blood Institute, a first-generation graduate, and a clinical social worker. Daniel obtained his
Bachelor of Social Work from Stephen F. Austin State University and Master of Social Work from
the University of Houston, where he received the SHINE scholarship as part of the Health
Resources and Services Administration grant to improve care access in designated areas. As a
SHINE recipient, Daniel specialized in health and behavioral health and received additional
training in brief interventions and trauma-informed practice. He has over 7 years of experience
in social work, including domestic violence, child welfare, smoking cessation, integrated social
work, and clinical social work.

His research is informed not only by professional experience but also by life experience. As
someone who grew up in poverty, raised by a single mother who would later become disabled,
Daniel understands the importance of giving social workers concrete tools to inform and create
interventions, particularly regarding social system change. He hopes to use these life
experiences to inform research on social work services.

Daniel’s research interests are advancing social work praxis through social diagnostics, social
work taxonomy, and novel interventions. He hopes to utilize research in these areas to provide
social workers with more consistent and social work-specific practice areas. Other research
interests encompass wellness as well as behavioral health.