Dr. Saroj Saigal obtained her medical degree and pediatric training in India, and postgraduate degrees in India (MD Ped), Canada (FRCP) and the US (FAAP). She joined the Pediatric Faculty at McMaster University, Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, as a neonatologist (1972 - 2004) and Director of the Neonatal Follow-up Program for high-risk infants (1973 -2013). Dr. Saigal has been Professor of Pediatrics since 1984, and is currently Professor Emerita at McMaster, and continues to run the follow-up clinic as well as her ongoing research.

Dr. Saigal is internationally recognized for her studies that focus on the quality of life and consequences of having been born extremely prematurely and she has published extensively on the same. She is the Founder of ‘Adults born Preterm International Collaboration’ (APIC), a network that facilitates collaboration and sharing of data with investigators interested in the long-term health and disease of this vulnerable population. She has been involved as a collaborator in several perinatal clinical trials.

Dr Saigal has held many leadership positions in the Canadian Pediatric Society. She is the recipient of many prestigious awards. Among them, the highest awards from the Canadian Pediatric Society, Distinguished Neonatologist Award, 2005; the American Pediatric Society, The Virginia Apgar Award, 2018, for distinguished contributions to Perinatal Medicine; and her alma mater, the McMaster Faculty of Health Sciences Community of Distinction Award, 2018.

Dr Saigal has written a book for a lay audience, “Preemie Voices” (Friesen Press, 2014), that incorporates letters written by the former preemies now in their 30s, and the research findings on them. It is accompanied by a 25-minute video documentary - www.preemievoicesbook.