Jessica Fervença Ramos

LIFE Fellow since 2026, University of Zurich

I am a PhD student at the Child Development Center at the University Children’s Hospital Zurich, working in Flavia Wehrle's research group. My research focuses on the long-term development of individuals with critical early-life conditions, such as being born very preterm or with a complex congenital heart disease. Our project builds on existing cohort studies that have followed individuals with neonatal critical illness from birth through school age and assessed various aspects of development, including physical, motor, and cognitive development. By adding a new assessment time point in adolescence and early adulthood, this project offers a unique opportunity to track development across different developmental periods. I am specifically interested in investigating how critical early-life conditions affect long-term development during the transition from adolescence to adulthood, with a particular focus on self-monitoring, self-regulation, and metacognition.  

I completed both my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Psychology at the University of Zurich. During my studies, I worked as a research assistant at the university and completed several clinical internships. I am therefore particularly excited to continue my research in a field with strong clinical relevance.

Publications

Ehrler, M., Fervença Ramos, J., Wehrle, F. M., Valsangiacomo Buechel, E. R., Beck, I., Latal, B., & Landolt, M. A. (2026). Longitudinal behaviour of children with complex congenital heart disease from preschool to adolescence. Pediatric Research. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-026-04839-2