Manuel
Ramón Fernández

Degree in Veterinary Medicine from the University of León. I completed my PhD studies at the Regional Center for Reproduction and Animal Breeding (CERSYRA) in Valdepeñas supported by an INIA fellowship, on the use of economic selection indexes in breeding programs. As visiting researcher at the University of Georgia (USA, 2007), I conducted studies on the genetics of reproductive traits in cattle and the effects of heat stress on them. From 2008 to 2010, I joined the Group of Reproductive Biology of the University of Castilla-La Mancha and, from 2010-2011, the Reproduction Group at the University of Murcia. My research in this group dealt with the study of quality of seminal parameters and their relationship with fertility of males. In 2011, I gained a MICINN Postdoctoral contract (DOC-INIA program), starting an independent research line which I continue to date and that aims to disentangle the genetic component of productive and reproductive traits in ruminants, the identification of regions of the genome associated to these characters, as well as the selection towards more tolerant animals to the effects of heat stress. My current research activities are focused on: (i) the study of the genetic basis of thermotolerance of animals within the context of Climate Change; (ii) the study of the genetic basis of reproduction traits in animals; (iii) the study of the role of microbiome of reproductive tracts of male and female on the reproductive success and the genetic basis responsible of the microbiota composition of the individuals, and (iv) the development of genomic selection programs that take advantage of the use of genomic information and all the results obtained from the aforementioned research lines. I also develop an important informative activity, collaborating actively with associations of farmers in the development of breeding programs.