• Development and Evaluation of Integrated Care Models
• eHealth Facilitated Self-Management Support for Rheumatic Diseases
• Shared Decision Making and Adherence in Rheumatic Diseases

Agnes Kocher is a registered nurse with 15 years of clinical practice experience, including more than 10 years in rheumatology. In 2009, Agnes Kocher started her academic career – always part-time – and obtained her Master of Science in Nursing at the Institute of Nursing Science (INS) at the University of Basel in 2012.

In February 2022, she completed her PhD studies as part of the MANOSS (MANagement Of Systemic Sclerosis) project. Her dissertation contributed to the scientific and clinical knowledge by assessing chronic care and eHealth implementation in systemic sclerosis (SSc). The research has strengthened a comprehensive perspective on SSc care needs and key elements of chronic care that require systematic implementation in the current management of this rare disease. Her dissertation was supervised by Prof. Dr. Dunja Nicca and Prof. Dr. Michael Simon. In 2021, she received the Paul Klee Research Award for her dissertation and in 2022 the Paul Klee Project Grant for a follow-up project of her dissertation (i.e., MANOSS-SPIN-SELF).

Since 2023, Agnes has been working as a postdoc in the SQUEEZE project at the INS. Her research focuses on improving the complex chronic illness management of people with rheumatic diseases using eHealth-powered interventions embedded in a personalized health framework. She is a board member of the health professionals in rheumatology (HPR) Switzerland, of the HPR Committee of EULAR (European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology), and lead author of the EULAR online course on rare rheumatic diseases for HPR. Moreover, she is a collaborator of the SSc Patient-centered Intervention Network (SPIN), a worldwide organization of researchers, healthcare providers and people living with SSc. Her MANOSS-SPIN-SELF project is a collaboration with the SPIN team and the Swiss SSc patient association.