Sandra Ulrich PhD

Work at ZHAW

Position

Researcher

Focus

Wellbeing, chatbot coaching, health apps, health behavior, prevention, resilience

Teaching

• AI in Psychology
• Research Methods (F21-1)
• Research Methods (F2-1)
• Health coaching (A11-4)
• Designing a digital intervention (DIG2-1)
• Health behavior skills: health apps (GP1-1)

Education and Continuing education

Education

• PhD / Medical Sciences
  Care and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zurich
  02 / 2020 - 06 / 2024
• Master of Science / Psychology
  Zurich University of Applied Sciences
  09 / 2010 - 11 / 2018

Continuing Education

Certificate in Good Clinical Practice
Clinical Trials Center CTC, University Hospital Zurich
08 / 2020

Network

Membership of networks

ZHAW Digital Health Lab

ORCID digital identifier

ORCID ID: 0000-0003-0008-5828

Projects

• User-centered design of a resource-based selfmanagement app / Project leader / completed

Publications

• Ulrich, Sandra; Künzli, Hansjörg; Zuber, Viktor; Kowatsch, Tobias; Gantenbein, Andreas R.,

  2025.

  Maintained effectiveness of a smartphone-based chatbot coach (BalanceUP) for mental well-being in headache sufferers : preliminary findings from a single-arm 6-month follow-up study.

  mHealth.

  11(49).

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.21037/mhealth-25-9

• Ulrich, Sandra; Lienhard, Natascha; Künzli, Hansjörg; Kowatsch, Tobias,

  2024.

  A chatbot-delivered stress management coaching for students (MISHA app) : pilot randomized controlled trial.

  JMIR mHealth and uHealth.

  12, pp. e54945.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.2196/54945

• Ulrich, Sandra; Gantenbein, Andreas R.; Zuber, Viktor; von Wyl, Agnes; Kowatsch, Tobias; Künzli, Hansjörg,

  2024.

  Development and evaluation of a smartphone-based chatbot coach to facilitate a balanced lifestyle in individuals with headaches (BalanceUP App) : randomized controlled trial.

  Journal of Medical Internet Research.

  26, pp. e50132.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.2196/50132

• Ollier, Joseph; Neff, Simon; Dworschak, Christine; Sejdiji, Arber; Santhanam, Prabhakaran; Keller, Roman; Xiao, Grace; Asisof, Alina; Rüegger, Dominik; Bérubé, Caterina; Hilfiker Tomas, Lena; Neff, Joël; Yao, Jiali; Alattas, Aishah; Varela-Mato, Veronica; Pitkethly, Amanda; Vara, Mª Dolores; Herrero, Rocío; Baños, Rosa Mª; Parada, Carolina; Agatheswaran, Rajashree Sundaram; Villalobos, Victor; Keller, Olivia Clare; Chan, Wai Sze; Mishra, Varun; Jacobson, Nicholas; Stanger, Catherine; He, Xinming; von Wyl, Viktor; Weidt, Steffi; Haug, Severin; Schaub, Michael; Kleim, Birgit; Barth, Jürgen; Witt, Claudia; Scholz, Urte; Fleisch, Elgar; Wangenheim, Florian von; Car, Lorainne Tudor; Müller-Riemenschneider, Falk; Hauser-Ulrich, Sandra; Asomoza, Alejandra Núñez; Salamanca-Sanabria, Alicia; Mair, Jacqueline Louise; Kowatsch, Tobias,

  2021.

  Elena+ care for COVID-19, a pandemic lifestyle care intervention : intervention design and study protocol.

  Frontiers in Public Health.

  9(625640).

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.625640

• Hauser-Ulrich, Sandra; Künzli, Hansjörg; Meier-Peterhans, Danielle; Kowatsch, Tobias,

  2020.

  A smartphone-based health care chatbot to promote self-management of chronic pain (SELMA) : pilot randomized controlled trial.

  JMIR mHealth and uHealth.

  8(4), pp. e15806.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.2196/15806

• Hauser-Ulrich, Sandra; Lienhard, Natascha; Burtscher, Michael Josef; Gantenbein, Andreas; Kowatsch, Tobias; Künzli, Hansjörg,

  2020.

  Text-based healthcare chatbot coaching to reduce stress of people suffering from chronic pain and migraine[poster].

  In:

  2. Digital Health Lab Day, online, 1. October 2020.

  ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften.

  Available from: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-22237

• Ulrich, Sandra,

  2025.

  Digitale Gesundheitsinterventionen per Chatbot : die Smartphone-Apps SELMA und BalanceUP.

  In:

  HPR Symposium, Interlaken, Schweiz, 4. September 2025.

• Ulrich, Sandra,

  2025.

  Keynote on the evaluation of PDTx.

  In:

  UMZH Precision Digital Therapeutics Summer School, Zurich, Switzerland, 18-22 August 2025.

• Ulrich, Sandra,

  2025.

  Digitale Medien und Schmerz.

  In:

  St.Galler Schmerzsymposium «Prävention chronischer Schmerzen – neu gedacht», St.Gallen, Schweiz, 15. Mai 2025.

• Ulrich, Sandra; Burtscher, Michael Josef,

  2024.

  Chatbot-Coaching zur Ressourcenförderung bei Lehrpersonen.

  In:

  Brown Bag Seminar, PH Luzern, Schweiz, 28. März 2024.

• Kamm, Katharina; Klan, Timo; Ulrich, Sandra,

  2023.

  Neue Horizonte der Migränebehandlung : Patientenorientierte Versorgung – Kogniphobie – Chatbot-Coaching.

  In:

  Deutscher Schmerzkongress, Mannheim, Deutschland, 18.-21. Oktober 2023.

• Ulrich, Sandra,

  2023.

  Balance Up : digitale Medien in der Optimierung der Lifestyle-Faktoren.

  In:

  Kopfschmerz Symposium, Bern, Schweiz, 15. Juni 2023.

• Hauser-Ulrich, Sandra; Künzli, Hansjörg,

  2021.

  Chatbots im Coaching.

  In:

  6. Internationaler Coachingkongress 2021 «Coaching meets Research», online, 18.-19. November 2021.

• Hauser-Ulrich, Sandra,

  2021.

  SELMA pain-self-management in the context of rheumatology.

  In:

  3rd Digital Rheumatology Day, Lausanne, 6 May 2021.

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