Petra Truedson

Petra Truedson

MD, PhD Student

Petra Truedson is a psychiatry registrar at Sunderby Hospital in Luleå, Sweden, and a PhD student at Umeå University. With a long-standing commitment to mental health care, Petra began her journey in psychiatry in 2012 as a nurse assistant. Her deep interest in clinical psychopharmacology has since shaped both her clinical and academic paths. From autumn 2025, she will continue her specialist training at Uppsala University Hospital. 

Petra’s PhD research focuses on treatment safety in affective disorders, particularly lithium therapy. As part of her doctoral studies, she spent six months at the Maudsley Hospital in London, UK, using the Clinical Record Interactive Search (CRIS) system to examine real-world treatment patterns. Her thesis defense is scheduled for September 2025. 

Her published work includes studies on the cardiac effects of toxic lithium levels and serious adverse drug events in bipolar and schizoaffective disorders. She is also the lead author of a register-based study investigating reasons for repeated lithium discontinuation and restart, and is currently working on a systematic review exploring how lithium dosing regimens affect kidney function. 

Petra aims to continue her research on treatment adherence and psychotropic safety, driven by the goal of improving patient outcomes through better understanding of pharmacological risks and real-world treatment behaviors.