Assistant Professor/Clinical
Dr. Knoeckel has been a family nurse practitioner (FNP) working in different settings of primary care since 2009. She continues to work as a FNP providing care to adult patients at Wellness 360. Since 2010, she has also served as a preceptor for FNP students in clinical practice including children and adults. In 2019, Dr. Knoeckel began her teaching career. She has taught undergraduate and graduate classes including online, in person, clinical and small groups. In 2020 she was assigned to be a course coordinator which has given her more opportunities for course design. She has aimed to be innovative using different teaching strategies such as flipped classrooms and interactive online instruction. Dr. Knoeckel has also sought to improve interdisciplinary collaboration for the FNP program by implementing multiple simulated IPE activities with her didactic course with the physicians’ assistant program. She has traveled with academic and faith-based organizations on medical and service trips to El Salvador, Spain, Costa Rica and Peru. Her research focus has been on obesity management, diabetic shared medical appointments in primary care and chronic disease management and behavioral lifestyle interventions. She grew up in Spain and speak Spanish fluently. She is married and has 3 children. She enjoys reading, cooking, hiking, swimming and traveling.
Licensures and Certifications
Honors and Awards
Completed Research/Projects:
Dr. Knoeckel has been a primary care nurse practitioner for more than 11 years. She first worked as an FNP with the Community Health Center, CT, providing care to Spanish-speaking patients with limited healthcare access. Subsequently, she worked as an FNP in private practice, urgent care, and locum. Currently, she works at UT Health Wellness 360 student and employee health. Born to American parents but raised in Spain (age 4-17), she traveled across Europe and attended international conferences. In one conference, she translated for Spanish speakers. She joined a mission trip to Peru and translated for English speakers. She also traveled to Costa Rica, Greece, and Italy. She taught students of the Doctor of Osteopathic (DO) International program (Virginia Osteopathic School of Medicine in Blacksburg, VA) Medical Spanish for healthcare professionals before their medical trips to El Salvador. She joined 2 of these trips; DO faculty and students worked with the local medical team to provide health care to the indigenous Salvadorians for two weeks. Dr. Knoeckel believes that a global perspective is critical because the world has such diversity that can only be experienced through personal exposure. She has recently traveled for leisure to Spain, Canada, England, Puerto Rico, and Mexico.
Non-Peer-reviewed Articles (i. e. editorials, news articles, etc.)
Knoeckel, S.F. (2015). Improving Provider Identification and Management of Overweight and Obesity in Primary Care. OpenCommons @ UConn Doctoral Dissertations
Invited Podium Presentations (i. e. keynotes presentations)