Dr Ramon Fernandez

Biography

Dr Ramon Fernandez graduated from the Justus-Liebig University, Giessen, Germany and completed his clinical training as Paediatrician and Neonatologist at the Charite, Humboldt University, Berlin; the Georg-August University, Göttingen and the Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.

In 2006 he was appointed as Consultant Neonatologist and Lead for Clinical Governance by Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust and as Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at the Brighton & Sussex Medical School. In 2017 he formally joined the Medical School as Senior Lecturer and became a Honorary Neonatologist at Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust. He has specific training in Paediatric and Neonatal Ultrasound including Echocardiography and a CASE recognised PgCert in Advanced Medical Imaging (Ultrasound) from the University of Salford, Manchester.

He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and an active member of the British Association of Perinatal Medicine, British Medical Ultrasound Society and European Society for Paediatric Research.

Research

Dr Fernandez completed his MD in Germany where he investigated the effects of elastase inhibitors on ARDS in an isolated, ventilated rabbit lung model. Since then his research interests have been diverse but predominantly focused on non-invasive respiratory support (Bubble NCPAP and High-Flow Therapy) and neonatal nutrition. His research interest in point-of-care ultrasound has allowed him to establish research collaborations with the Medical Physics Department. He has been PI for several international trials such as PiPS, NEOCIRC and CURONEB. Dr Fernandez is very supportive of research undertaken by medical students and junior doctors. He has supervised MRes, MSc and PhD as well as IRP students. Most of his mentees have published or presented their work at conferences with some receiving a prize for their work, most notably the “Bengt Robertson Award for Research of the Neonatal Lung” by the European Society for Paediatric Research.

Teaching

Dr Fernandez is mainly responsible for the Paediatric E-learning Component, in particular the new platform Capsule. He teaches in the Paediatric Modules of the BSMS curriculum and takes part in OSCE examinations and admissions interviews. He is a qualified NLS instructor and has also taught on Ultrasound Courses in Echocardiography and Neonatal Intensive Care Ultrasound. Dr Fernandez is a senior faculty member of the NOTE (Neonatal Online Training & Education) course, an international Postgraduate Master’s Degree in Neonatology, hosted by the University of Southampton.