Prof. Hugo Lagercrantz

Prof. Hugo Lagercrantz is one of Scandinavia's most celebrated neonatologists and a professor emeritus at Karolinska Institutet, affiliated with Karolinska University Hospital's Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital — Sweden's largest children's hospital and a leading European centre for neonatal and paediatric medicine. Over a distinguished career spanning more than 40 years, Prof. Lagercrantz has made foundational contributions to our understanding of how the newborn brain develops, how breathing is controlled in the perinatal period, and how the preterm infant brain can best be protected against injury.

His scientific work began with investigations into the stress response of the newborn at birth — examining how catecholamine surges during labour serve an adaptive physiological function — and evolved into a comprehensive research programme examining the neurochemical and neurophysiological mechanisms controlling breathing and arousal in neonates. His research on the role of adenosine as a respiratory depressant in newborns was groundbreaking, providing a mechanistic explanation for the breathing instability characteristic of preterm infants and establishing the scientific rationale for methylxanthine therapy (caffeine and theophylline) to treat apnoea of prematurity.

In addition to his research, Prof. Lagercrantz has had an exceptional clinical career at Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital, where he managed some of Sweden's most complex neonatal cases and helped develop the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit into a Scandinavian centre of excellence. He has also made significant contributions to the broader understanding of newborn brain consciousness and early neurological development, authoring the acclaimed textbook 'The Newborn Baby's Brain' which is widely read by neonatologists and developmental neurobiologists worldwide.

Prof. Lagercrantz is renowned not only as a scientist but as a gifted communicator of complex science, making fundamental questions about the developing brain accessible to both clinical audiences and the general public.

Prof. Lagercrantz completed his medical degree at Karolinska Institutet and undertook postgraduate training in paediatrics and neonatology within the Swedish hospital system. He was awarded his PhD for research into the biochemical and physiological mechanisms of the perinatal stress response — early work that set the stage for his subsequent investigations into newborn brain development and respiratory control.

He pursued advanced research training in neurophysiology and neuropharmacology, developing expertise in the experimental techniques required to study brain function in neonatal animal models and to translate these findings into clinical hypotheses testable in human newborns. International research collaborations, particularly with developmental neuroscience groups in the United Kingdom and France, enriched his scientific perspective.

Prof. Lagercrantz holds a full professorship (emeritus) at Karolinska Institutet's Department of Women's and Children's Health, where he has supervised generations of PhD students and postdoctoral fellows in neonatal physiology and neuroscience. He is an Honorary Member of the European Society for Paediatric Research (ESPR) and has served on the Neonatal Society's editorial and scientific committees.

Prof. Lagercrantz's clinical expertise centres on the care of critically ill newborns in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), with particular depth in the management of very preterm infants (born before 28 weeks of gestation), infants with hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) following birth asphyxia, and neonates with complex respiratory failure.

His procedural competencies include neonatal resuscitation at delivery, endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation, surfactant replacement therapy for respiratory distress syndrome, and the application of therapeutic hypothermia protocols for neonates with moderate to severe HIE. He has been deeply involved in the development and clinical implementation of therapeutic hypothermia in Sweden — a neuroprotective intervention that reduces the risk of death and neurodevelopmental disability in asphyxiated newborns.

He also has expertise in the neurodevelopmental follow-up of high-risk neonates, including very preterm infants and those who have suffered perinatal brain injury. His understanding of neonatal brain physiology informs his clinical approach to monitoring brain function using amplitude-integrated EEG (aEEG) and other neurophysiological tools during NICU care. His longstanding research on breathing control directly underpins his clinical approach to apnoea of prematurity management.

Prof. Lagercrantz has authored over 400 peer-reviewed publications in journals including the Journal of Physiology, Pediatric Research, Acta Paediatrica, Archives of Disease in Childhood, and Nature Reviews Neuroscience. His work spans experimental neurophysiology, clinical neonatology, and developmental neuroscience, with a consistent thread linking laboratory findings to clinical application.

His most celebrated research contributions include the elucidation of the role of adenosine in suppressing breathing in the neonatal period — foundational work that explained why preterm infants are prone to apnoea and provided a pharmacological target (methylxanthine blockade of adenosine receptors) for its treatment. He also made landmark contributions to understanding the catecholamine surge at birth and its role in preparing the newborn's cardiovascular and respiratory systems for extra-uterine life.

More recently, his research on the consciousness and awareness of the newborn brain has attracted significant scientific and public interest, with studies examining when during development the fetal and neonatal brain is capable of conscious experience — work with profound implications for perinatal pain management, neonatal care practices, and ethical debates about the neurological capacity of very preterm infants. His textbook 'The Newborn Baby's Brain' synthesises this research for a global readership of clinicians and researchers.

Prof. Lagercrantz consults in Swedish and English, and Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital is internationally recognised for the excellence of its neonatal intensive care and paediatric medicine. The hospital regularly receives complex referrals from Scandinavia and beyond for infants with severe prematurity, complex respiratory failure, hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy, and rare neonatal conditions.

EU/EEA families may be eligible for cross-border healthcare funding when seeking neonatal specialist care in Sweden, and the hospital's international patient team can assist with the administrative and logistical aspects of international referral for NICU care. For families seeking expert second opinion on neonatal care decisions, telemedicine consultations with Prof. Lagercrantz's team can be arranged, enabling discussion of complex clinical cases with international neonatologists.

Given the acute and time-sensitive nature of many neonatal conditions, early contact with the Astrid Lindgren NICU for advice on in utero transfer or ex utero transport planning is encouraged for families and clinicians managing high-risk pregnancies or newly born infants with anticipated complex neonatal needs.

Prof. Lagercrantz has received the Swedish Paediatric Society's Lifetime Achievement Award — the highest honour in Swedish paediatrics — in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to neonatology and paediatric research over more than four decades. He holds Honorary Membership of the European Society for Paediatric Research (ESPR), an honour bestowed upon individuals whose contributions have profoundly shaped European paediatric science.

He has been invited to deliver the Karolinska Nobel Forum Lecture — a distinguished annual lectureship reflecting Karolinska Institutet's recognition of exceptional scientific achievement — and has delivered named lectureships at the Neonatal Society (UK), ESPR, and Perinatal Medicine congresses worldwide. His textbook 'The Newborn Baby's Brain' has been translated into multiple languages and is used in medical education programmes internationally, representing one of his most enduring contributions to the global neonatology community.