Sandra Jenkner
Adelaide Medical School
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
Dr. Sandra Jenkner completed her Ph.D in Physiology at the University of Adelaide and South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) in 2025 titled 'Bridging the gap: Characterising the peripheral immune response in spinal cord injury to enhance stem cell therapies.' During her Ph.D, Dr. Jenkner investigated longitudinal temporal dynamics of leukocyte subpopulations in the blood in a clinically relevant preclinical model of spinal cord injury. This understanding was then used to develop a novel ex vivo coculture model of peripheral immune cells and stem cells, which investigated the bidrectional relationships between the two cell groups. Specifically, Dr. Jenkner discovered and mapped key immunological drivers of stem cell viability loss, identifying potential biomarker candidates amenable to stem cell bioengineering techniques that may enhance their therapeutic capacity in inflammatory-driven conditions such as spinal cord injury.
In 2025, Sandra joined the Stem Cell Bioengineering Laboratory at the University of Adelaide to begin her postdoctoral training under the expert leadership of Dr Vashe Chandrakanthan. As part of her research project, Sandra aims to understand how haematopoietic stem cell production is regulated during development, and how this can be applied and translated using novel therapeutic tools to elicit blood cell (erythrocyte and white blood cells) production from adult somatic cells for the treatment of various haematological and bone marrow conditions in humans. Sandra has a particular interest in the bone marrow niche and how inflammatory and neurological drivers coalesce to affect immune function in various pathologies.
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2025 - ongoing Postdoctoral Researcher University of Adelaide -
Language Competencies
Language Competency English Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review German Can read, write, speak and understand spoken Polish Can read, write, speak and understand spoken -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 2024 University of Adelaide Australia Doctor of Philosophy 2020 University of Adelaide Australia Bachelor of Health and Medical Science (Advanced) (Honours) -
Research Interests
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Journals
Year Citation 2024 Jenkner, S., Clark, J. M., Gronthos, S., & O’Hare Doig, R. L. (2024). Molars to Medicine: A Focused Review on the Pre-Clinical Investigation and Treatment of Secondary Degeneration following Spinal Cord Injury Using Dental Stem Cells. Cells, 13(10), 31 pages.
Scopus12022 Jenkner, S., & O’Hare Doig, R. (2022). Complementing Neuroregeneration: Deciphering the Role of Neuro-Immune Interactions in CNS Repair. Journal of Neuroscience, 42(14), 2850-2852.
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Conference Items
Year Citation 2022 Doig, R. O., Jenkner, S., Grose, R., Lewis, M., Clark, J., & Gronthos, S. (2022). SPINAL CORD INJURY-DERIVED MONOCYTES ALTER THE VIABILITY AND IMMUNOMODULATORY PHENOTYPE OF NEURAL CREST-DERIVED DENTAL PULP STEM. Poster session presented at the meeting of JOURNAL OF NEUROTRAUMA. Berlin, GERMANY: MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC. 2022 Jenkner, S., Clark, J., Gronthos, S., Grose, R., Lewis, M., & Doig, R. O. (2022). EXPERIMENTAL SPINAL CORD INJURY REVEALS NOVEL HETEROGENIC MONOCYTE SUBPOPULATIONS IN PERIPHERAL BLOOD. Poster session presented at the meeting of JOURNAL OF NEUROTRAUMA. Berlin, GERMANY: MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC. -
Preprint
Year Citation 2024 Jenkner, S., Grose, R., Lewis, M., Thomas, D., Gronthos, S., Clark, J., & Doig, R. O. (2024). Novel monocyte sub-populations revealed by detailed analysis of CD43 and CD11b expression in Sprague Dawley rats.
DOI
Selected External Grants
2024 -Bright Sparks PhD Publication Award - AU$3000, SAHMRI
Selected Awards & Scholarships
| Dean's Commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence | 2025 |
| Early Career Scholarship, Spine Society of Australia | 2021 |
| Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences Honours Scholarship | 2020 |
Teaching experience
The University of Adelaide
| Tutor, PATHOL 3101: Essentials of Pathology | 2022 - 2025 |
| Tutor, PATHOL 3200: Neurological Diseases | 2022 – 2024 |
| Tutor, HLTH SCI 1002: Create. Communicate. Connect. | 2023 - 2024 |
Student Supervision & Mentoring
The University of Adelaide
- Ashton Milton-Hine (Summer Research Placement; 2020-2021), University of Adelaide. ‘Bridging the gap between regenerative medicine and spinal cord injury’
- Melinda Mead (Summer Research Placement; 2022-2023), The University of Adelaide. 'Project Bridge: An in vitro stem cell preconditioning paradigm for spinal cord injury regeneration'
- Reeya Patel (Bachelor of Health and Medical Sciences Honours; 2023), University of Adelaide. ‘Exploiting Immune cells to enhance viability and regenerative capacity of dental pulp stem cells following spinal cord injury
Connect With Me
External Profiles
