Building Awareness of Sepsis and Post-Sepsis Syndrome Through a Patient-Led Podcast

The newly launched Action on Sepsis Podcast focuses on telling the whole journey of sepsis from the perspective of the patient, along with input from healthcare workers, researchers, and other individuals advocating for improved sepsis care nationally and globally. It was developed by the Patient Advisory Council of the University of British Columbia (UBC) Action on Sepsis Research Excellence Cluster to improve awareness of sepsis among the public and healthcare workers, drawing on patients’ lived experiences to maximize impact and education through story-telling.

Each series in our podcast focus on the story of different sepsis survivor:

  • In Series 1, you meet your host, Kristine Russell, sepsis survivor, and parent of a neonatal sepsis survivor. In this series, she discusses the long-term impacts of neonatal and maternal sepsis with clinicians and researchers at UBC and British Columbia Children's Hospital in Vancouver, Canada.

  • Series 2 focuses on Kristin MacDonald, sepsis survivor turned sepsis advocate. In this series, our host discusses the experiences of adult sepsis patients in the ICU with an intensivist from Vancouver, Canada, and delves into the possible role of epigenetics in post-sepsis syndrome with an MD-PhD student at UBC.

  • Series 3 focuses on Shannon McKenney, a Juno-nominated singer, and survivor of recurrent sepsis. In this series our host explores two different approaches to improving the identification and management of sepsis:

    • 1) developing new diagnostics using machine learning and changes in gene expression during sepsis, and

    • 2) a BC-wide network focused on improving the quality of sepsis. We also discuss how patients and sepsis survivors can use their lived experiences to support research on sepsis with the BC SUPPORT Unit.

Since sepsis is preventable and treatable if recognized early, increased awareness of sepsis has the potential to significantly reduce death and disability. Yet, public awareness of sepsis and post-sepsis is generally low, and health professionals outside of critical and intensive care medicine typically have limited experience identifying and managing care for patients with sepsis. The Action on Sepsis Podcast provides an accessible platform for in-depth conversations that can be downloaded and listened to at the listener’s convenience, supporting learning by health workers, researchers, and the general public.

Visit the Action on Sepsis website to listen to the podcast. You can also listen to the podcast on your favorite podcast streaming platform:

Marvin Zick
2022 WSC Spotlight – Session 8 Now Available on YouTube and as a Podcast

Session 8 from the 2022 World Sepsis Congress Spotlight – ‘Innovations in Quality Improvement Strategies in All Settings’ – is now available on YouTube (embedded above) and as a Podcast on Apple Podcasts (just search for World Sepsis Congress in your favorite podcast app).

The session was chaired by our very own Alison Fox-Robichaud, and features the following presentations and speakers:

  • Jos Latour – Todo sobre mi madre – Empowering the Parents, Empowering the Patient

  • Aldo Faisal – Using AI to Improve Sepsis Management – Lessons Learned From Development and Implementation of the Artificial Intelligence Clinician

  • Fran Balamuth – Improving Early Recognition of Pediatric Sepsis by Digital Support Systems

  • Chris Seymour – Untangling Sepsis Heterogeneity - Applying Data-Driven Phenotypes to Future Trial Design

  • Annet Alenyo – Prioritizing Quality Improvement for Sepsis in Emergency Medicine

This was the final session of the 2022 WSC Spotlight – thank you for your interest over the last weeks, all sessions and talks are now available. World Sepsis Congress will return in April 2023.


Full Release Schedule

  • May 3, 2022 – S1: Could Enhanced Pathogen Diagnostics Change Sepsis Management?

  • May 10, 2022 – S2: Biomarkers in the Diagnosis and Management of Sepsis and COVID-19

  • May 17, 2022 – S3: Panel: Knowledge from COVID-19 to Improve Sepsis Care and Vice Versa

  • May 24, 2022 – S4: How to Make the Most of Existing and Frugal Technologies

  • May 31, 2022 – S5: Antibiotics and Antivirals – How to Improve Efficacy and Minimize Harm

  • June 7, 2022 – S6: Update on Adjunctive Sepsis and COVID-19 Therapies

  • June 14, 2022 – S7: Pro-Con: Are Personalized Interventions in Sepsis Even Possible?

  • June 21, 2022 – S8: Innovations in Quality Improvement Strategies in All Settings


Marvin Zick
2022 WSC Spotlight – Session 7 Now Available on YouTube and as a Podcast

Session 7 from the 2022 World Sepsis Congress Spotlight – ‘Pro-Con: Are Personalized Interventions in Sepsis Even Possible?’ – is now available on YouTube (embedded above) and as a Podcast on Apple Podcasts (just search for World Sepsis Congress in your favorite podcast app).

The session was chaired by Teresa Kortz from the University of California, and features the following presentations and speakers:

  • Mihai Netea – Pro: We Can Use Biomarkers to Translate Host Information Into Medical Interven- tion

  • Lorraine Ware – Con: It Is Impossible to Transfer Existing Evidence to Clinical Routine

  • Nuala Meyer – A Pragmatic Balance: Where Does Current Knowledge Lead Us?

Sessions are released weekly on Tuesdays. The next and final session will be ‘Innovations in Quality Improvement Strategies in All Settings ’ on June 21, 2022.

You can already subscribe on either platform to be automatically notified once new sessions are available.


Full Release Schedule

  • May 3, 2022 – S1: Could Enhanced Pathogen Diagnostics Change Sepsis Management?

  • May 10, 2022 – S2: Biomarkers in the Diagnosis and Management of Sepsis and COVID-19

  • May 17, 2022 – S3: Panel: Knowledge from COVID-19 to Improve Sepsis Care and Vice Versa

  • May 24, 2022 – S4: How to Make the Most of Existing and Frugal Technologies

  • May 31, 2022 – S5: Antibiotics and Antivirals – How to Improve Efficacy and Minimize Harm

  • June 7, 2022 – S6: Update on Adjunctive Sepsis and COVID-19 Therapies

  • June 14, 2022 – S7: Pro-Con: Are Personalized Interventions in Sepsis Even Possible?

  • June 21, 2022 – S8: Innovations in Quality Improvement Strategies in All Settings


Marvin Zick
2022 WSC Spotlight – Session 6 Now Available on YouTube and as a Podcast

Session 6 from the 2022 World Sepsis Congress Spotlight – ‘Update on Adjunctive Sepsis and COVID-19 Therapies’ – is now available on YouTube (embedded above) and as a Podcast on Apple Podcasts (just search for World Sepsis Congress in your favorite podcast app).

The session was chaired by Luis Antonio Gorordo Del Sol from Sepsis Mexico, and features the following presentations and speakers:

  • Evangelos J. Giamarellos-Bourboulis – Anakinra Treatment – Which COVID-19 Patients Benefit?

  • Alexander Vlaar – Vilobelimab Phase III Study in COVID-19 Sepsis

  • Luregn Schlapbach – The Approach to Immunomodulatory and Adjunctive Therapy in Children with Sepsis

  • Sarah Sasson – The Approach to Immunomodulatory and Adjunctive Therapy in Adults with Sepsis

Sessions are released weekly on Tuesdays. The next session will be ‘Pro-Con: Are Personalized Interventions in Sepsis Even Possible?’ on June 14, 2022.

You can already subscribe on either platform to be automatically notified once new sessions are available.


Full Release Schedule

  • May 3, 2022 – S1: Could Enhanced Pathogen Diagnostics Change Sepsis Management?

  • May 10, 2022 – S2: Biomarkers in the Diagnosis and Management of Sepsis and COVID-19

  • May 17, 2022 – S3: Panel: Knowledge from COVID-19 to Improve Sepsis Care and Vice Versa

  • May 24, 2022 – S4: How to Make the Most of Existing and Frugal Technologies

  • May 31, 2022 – S5: Antibiotics and Antivirals – How to Improve Efficacy and Minimize Harm

  • June 7, 2022 – S6: Update on Adjunctive Sepsis and COVID-19 Therapies

  • June 14, 2022 – S7: Pro-Con: Are Personalized Interventions in Sepsis Even Possible?

  • June 21, 2022 – S8: Innovations in Quality Improvement Strategies in All Settings


Marvin Zick
We Need Your Input – Does Your Country Have a National Sepsis Strategy?

In 2017, the World Health Assembly and World Health Organization made sepsis a global health priority by adopting a resolution to improve, prevent, diagnose, and manage sepsis (resolution 70.7, often referred to as the ‘Sepsis Resolution’).

The aforementioned resolution urged the UN Member States to reinforce existing strategies to include sepsis more holistically, or to develop new ones, de facto calling for national sepsis strategies.

Has your country/government followed through? We are working on assembling a world map, tracking the status of national sepsis strategies across the world – and while we have a good idea of what’s going on, we want to make sure not to miss anything. That’s why we need your input – does your country have a sepsis strategy in place or in development?

Please use the form below – we are specifically looking for government programs, plans, or strategies on sepsis, not advocacy efforts by non-governmental organizations or individuals (although we very much welcome those as well). If these strategies are only being rolled out in parts of the country, for example because of a federal system, or are not implemented but in development, please submit them anyway.


P.S.: If you know about sepsis strategies that are hospital-specific (not by the government) or have any other questions or observations, please contact us.

Marvin Zick
2022 WSC Spotlight – Session 5 Now Available on YouTube and as a Podcast

Session 5 from the 2022 World Sepsis Congress Spotlight – ‘Antibiotics and Antivirals – How to Improve Efficacy and Minimize Harm’ – is now available on YouTube (embedded above) and as a Podcast on Apple Podcasts (just search for World Sepsis Congress in your favorite podcast app).

The session was chaired by Lowell Ling from the Asia Pacific Sepsis Alliance, and features the following presentations and speakers:

  • Alex Soriano – PK/PD to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance

  • Mario Tumbarello – Meropenem/Vaborbactam: A New Weapon in the ICU

  • Matteo Bassetti – Remdesivir and Novel Antivirals: Is It Prime Time?

  • Ana Gales – Colistin and Fosofmycin: The End of an Era or the Requisition of Potent Drugs?

  • Mihaela Lupse – Procalcitonin for Early Stop of Antibiotics: Antimicrobial Stewardship and Impact on Outcome

Sessions are released weekly on Tuesdays. The next session will be ‘Update on Adjunctive Sepsis and COVID-19 Therapies’ on June 7, 2022.

You can already subscribe on either platform to be automatically notified once new sessions are available.


Full Release Schedule

  • May 3, 2022 – S1: Could Enhanced Pathogen Diagnostics Change Sepsis Management?

  • May 10, 2022 – S2: Biomarkers in the Diagnosis and Management of Sepsis and COVID-19

  • May 17, 2022 – S3: Panel: Knowledge from COVID-19 to Improve Sepsis Care and Vice Versa

  • May 24, 2022 – S4: How to Make the Most of Existing and Frugal Technologies

  • May 31, 2022 – S5: Antibiotics and Antivirals – How to Improve Efficacy and Minimize Harm

  • June 7, 2022 – S6: Update on Adjunctive Sepsis and COVID-19 Therapies

  • June 14, 2022 – S7: Pro-Con: Are Personalized Interventions in Sepsis Even Possible?

  • June 21, 2022 – S8: Innovations in Quality Improvement Strategies in All Settings


Marvin Zick
2022 WSC Spotlight – Session 4 Now Available on YouTube and as a Podcast

Session 4 from the 2022 World Sepsis Congress Spotlight – ‘How to Make the Most of Existing and Frugal Technologies’ – is now available on YouTube (embedded above) and as a Podcast on Apple Podcasts (just search for World Sepsis Congress in your favorite podcast app).

The session was chaired by Traci Wolbrink from the Harvard Medical School, and features the following presentations and speakers:

  • John Knight – Point-Of-Care Peritoneal Dialysis – A Cost-Effective, Greener Alternative for Renal Replacement Therapy

  • Louise Thwaites – Wearable Devices for Sepsis Care in Low-Resource Settings – Getting Past the Noise

  • Rishi Kamaleswaran – Neonatal Technologies: From Development to Prime Time

  • Mark Ansermino – From Triage to Follow-Up Care: Smart Quality Improvement

  • Liz Joekes – The Strengths and Limitations of Adopting Technology for Sepsis Management in LMICs – Lessons Learned From Experiences With Point-Of-Care Ultrasound

Sessions are released weekly on Tuesdays. The next session will be ‘Antibiotics and Antivirals – How to Improve Efficacy and Minimize Harm’ on May 31, 2022.

You can already subscribe on either platform to be automatically notified once new sessions are available.


Full Release Schedule

  • May 3, 2022 – S1: Could Enhanced Pathogen Diagnostics Change Sepsis Management?

  • May 10, 2022 – S2: Biomarkers in the Diagnosis and Management of Sepsis and COVID-19

  • May 17, 2022 – S3: Panel: Knowledge from COVID-19 to Improve Sepsis Care and Vice Versa

  • May 24, 2022 – S4: How to Make the Most of Existing and Frugal Technologies

  • May 31, 2022 – S5: Antibiotics and Antivirals – How to Improve Efficacy and Minimize Harm

  • June 7, 2022 – S6: Update on Adjunctive Sepsis and COVID-19 Therapies

  • June 14, 2022 – S7: Pro-Con: Are Personalized Interventions in Sepsis Even Possible?

  • June 21, 2022 – S8: Innovations in Quality Improvement Strategies in All Settings


Marvin Zick