Sandra Jonmarker

I was born in Lund. My main interest outside of school was dancing. I stayed in Lund for medical school. During my final year, I met my future husband, and we decided to move to Kalmar for our internship.

After almost two years of internship, we moved to Stockholm for our specialist training. I trained and worked as a consultant at the Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care at Södersjukhuset between 2011 and 2023. During this period, we also had our three wonderful children, who are now 13, 10, and 6 years old.

In 2023, we decided to move to Christchurch, New Zealand, to experience work and research on the other side of the world. The initial plan was to stay for one year, but New Zealand is such a wonderful country, and we feel that we are still developing both clinically and academically, so we have decided to extend our stay.

My research focuses on coagulopathy, sepsis, and sedation in critically ill patients.

I initially planned to conduct my PhD on sepsis, aiming to improve early identification, but the COVID-19 pandemic shifted my research priorities. At Södersjukhuset in Stockholm, which treated a large number of patients with critical COVID-19, I focused on thromboembolic complications in ICU patients.

This work highlighted important uncertainties regarding thromboprophylaxis and anti-inflammatory treatments in critical illness. In particular, our findings suggested that anti-Factor Xa levels may be associated with both thromboembolism and bleeding, supporting further investigation of more individualized approaches to anticoagulation. As thromboprophylaxis is one of the most commonly used treatments in the ICU, even modest improvements in dosing could have substantial clinical impact.

Alongside this, I have continued my research in sepsis, including the development of an algorithm based on electronic health records to improve the identification of septic patients. This work is now being used to study the epidemiology of sepsis and identify patients at highest risk of poor outcomes.

In recent years, I have been actively involved in developing the international platform trial INCEPT. One of these domains focuses on optimizing thromboprophylaxis dosing, building on my previous work. I am also working towards implementing INCEPT in New Zealand.

At Christchurch ICU, I am leading a prospective observational study on sedation and am currently enrolling patients, aiming to better understand its indications, dosing, and impact on patient outcomes. In addition, I support, inform, and facilitate patient inclusion in several ongoing randomized clinical trials at Christchurch ICU, including studies on depth of anaesthesia, duration of antibiotic therapy, and the use of frozen platelets.

In addition to these projects, I regularly support junior researchers in developing and refining their research questions and study designs.

Main teacher for internship doctors in Anaesthesia and Intensive care, 2018
Main teacher for fourth years medical students in Anesthesia and Intensive 
care, 2019–2020
Repeated lecturer for nurses in specialist training, Stockholm
Repeated lectures for doctors of other specialities on drugs used for pain 
and sedation, Stockholm
Regularly attend teaching sessions for ICU trainees at Christchurch ICU, contributing as a sounding board and providing clarification during peer-led discussions.
Regular teaching sessions with nursing staff regarding education for ongoing studies.