Professor Ola Didrik Saugstad, MD, PhD, is a Norwegian paediatrician, neonatologist and neuroscientist renowned for his research on newborn resuscitation and hypoxia. He serves as Research Professor at Oslo University Hospital and Adjunct Professor of Neonatology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

His landmark work on oxygen use in newborn resuscitation led to revised international guidelines in 2010, replacing pure oxygen with air—a change estimated to save approximately 200,000 lives annually. Saugstad’s expertise spans hypoxia-reoxygenation injury, oxygen radical mechanisms, and perinatal asphyxia, with over 30,000 citations in scientific literature.

In ME/CFS research, Saugstad has collaborated on studies investigating metabolic disturbances, including abnormal lactic acid levels post-exertion and cellular oxygen deficiency. He supports hypotheses linking ME/CFS to immune dysfunction and energy metabolism failure, advocating for specialised biochemical testing to identify biomarkers. Saugstad has endorsed Norwegian-led ME/CFS research as internationally leading, particularly praising subgroup analyses that correlate metabolic patterns with symptom severity.

A former president of the European Association of Perinatal Medicine, he has advised the WHO on child mortality and received the Nordic Medical Prize and the Knight First Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav for his contributions to neonatal medicine.

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