Seminar: Past insights, future directions

What have decades of research taught us about exercise in people with Down syndrome, and how can we build on that knowledge to support health, participation and inclusion across adulthood?

In this seminar, Bo Fernhall looks back at the scientific discoveries that have shaped our understanding of exercise in Down syndrome, while Thessa Hilgenkamp looks forward to the next questions: connecting physiology and physical health with participation, community inclusion and healthy ageing.

Past insights, future directions with Prof. Bo Fernhall & Dr. Thessa Hilgenkamp

Date: Thursday, December 10th, 2026
Time: 10am-12pm
Location: Serre Wiebenga, Petrus Driessenstraat 3, Groningen

Programme

10.00-11.00am, including Q&A
Prof. Bo Fernhall
Dean, Manning College of Nursing & Health Sciences
UMass Boston, USA

“What have we learned from decades of exercise research in individuals with intellectual disabilities including Down syndrome?”

Bo Fernhall has been at the forefront of exercise and cardiovascular research in Down syndrome for more than three decades. His work has helped shift the scientific explanation for low fitness in Down syndrome beyond physical inactivity alone.

Starting with the observation of markedly reduced cardiorespiratory fitness, his research helped uncover the importance of chronotropic and autonomic dysfunction and altered cardiovascular responses to exercise. These discoveries changed how we understand exercise capacity in Down syndrome and have important implications for exercise testing and prescription.

But the story does not end with physiological limitations. Research has increasingly demonstrated that people with Down syndrome can adapt to exercise training, opening the door to a different question: how can we best use exercise to improve health and functioning?

11.00 am-12.00pm, including Q&A
Dr. Thessa Hilgenkamp
Associate Professor | Research Group Healthy Ageing, Allied Health Care and Nursing, Hanze University of Applied Sciences

“Connecting physiology with everyday life:  from understanding how the body responds to exercise to creating opportunities for healthy, active and inclusive lives”

Thessa Hilgenkamp's research builds on this physiological foundation and asks what comes next. Her work spans exercise and cardiovascular physiology, physical activity, ageing, and exercise interventions in adults with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities. At Hanze, she is developing the next phase of this research: investigating how physical health and function develop across adulthood, how exercise and lifestyle can change trajectories of health and functioning, and how these gains can support participation and quality of life. This also means moving beyond healthcare alone. How can families, neighbourhoods, sports and exercise settings, disability organisations, municipalities and other community partners create environments in which people with intellectual disabilities can be physically active, participate meaningfully, and be included?