Fer (Motril, Granada) did his BSc on Sport Sciences at University of Granada. In 2015, he was awarded with a PhD studentship from the Spanish Government. His predoctoral research focused on identifying factors that are associated with anxiety, depression and somatic symptoms (such as pain and fatigue) in adults with chronic diseases. In particular, he focused on factors that provide resilience and adaptation to these symptoms such as physical activity and positive affect. Additionally, Fer conducted randomised controlled trials, systematic reviews and meta-analysis in order to determine the effects of physical exercise on anxiety, depression and somatic symptoms. In 2018, he was awarded with a PhD in Psychology at Utrecht University (The Netherlands).

During his Marie Sklodowska-Curie (MSCA) postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology at Erasmus MC University Medical Center (Rotterdam, The Netherlands), Fer received training in population neuroimaging. In this hospital, he studied the relationship between psychiatric symptoms and brain development using structural MRI in children and adolescents. In the past call of the Short-term Visiting Fellowships, Fer secured funding to conduct his research at Harvard University (USA) where he gained advanced skills in resting-state functional MRI. In the current call, Fer is awarded by the Alicia Koplowitz Foundation with a Short-term Visiting Fellowship to extend his research at Harvard. In particular, he will lead his own research line disentangling the temporality of the longitudinal associations between chronic pain, physical activity and brain development in children and adolescents.