Down Syndrome Research Forum 2027

The 2027 Down Syndrome Research Forum will be held online from 15 to 17 March 2027. Submissions open on 12 October 2026 and close on 8 January 2027.

The Down Syndrome Research Forum is an annual international event that brings together researchers, students, practitioners and families to discuss current research and practice, and to learn from each other.

Presentations

We welcome presentations of research, including work in progress, and presentations from practitioners who wish to share their experience of particular interventions or service models.

Presentations are given live over video call, at times staggered to suit presenters and delegates around the world. Sessions are recorded so that registered participants can watch them later.

An individual presentation lasts about 20 minutes, including 5 minutes for questions. A symposium brings together 3 or 4 presentations organised around a clear theme.

Submissions

Submit your presentation online. You will need to sign in with a DSE Client ID, which you can create when you start.

For each presentation, we ask for:

• a title, of up to 300 characters
• an abstract, of up to 3000 characters (about 450 words). The abstract of a research presentation should give the background, research questions, method, results (if available) and conclusion.
• the name, affiliation, country of residence and email address of each author, starting with the lead author
• consent from each author to be listed as a co-author, and from each presenting author to be recorded

Awards

This year, we are introducing three awards to recognise important contributions to research and practice that impact the lives of people with Down syndrome. The Research Forum Committee will evaluate the abstracts submitted for:

• Outstanding Student Research Award, for a current undergraduate or postgraduate student, or a recent graduate (graduated in the last year) presenting research collected while a student. The student must be the lead author and the presenter.
• Early Career Research Award, for a researcher in the first 5 years of their career after completing their PhD. They must be the lead author and the presenter.
• Impact Award for Best Applied Presentation, for a non-research, clinical or community presentation, for example by a community organisation, parent, self-advocate or practitioner.

Each presentation in a symposium can be considered on its own, but a symposium as a whole cannot.

To be considered, choose the award when you create or edit your presentation. For the Early Career Research Award, you will also be asked the year the lead author earned their PhD. Entering for an award is voluntary and does not affect whether your presentation is selected for the forum.

Award winners will receive a certificate, be acknowledged at the forum, be listed on the website as an award winner, and receive free or discounted registration.

Read more about the awards and how entries are reviewed and scored.

Keynotes

The following keynotes are planned for 2027:

• Customizing Literacy Instruction for Students with Down Syndrome: Research and Applications from Friends on the Block
  Dr Jill Allor
  University Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Simmons School of Education and Human Development, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, USA
• Measuring what Matters Most: Improving the Lives of People with Down Syndrome Regression Disorder Through Community Engaged Measurement Research
  Dr Ruth Brown-Ennis
  Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Professor, The HOPE Lab, Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
• From Survival to Thriving: The Future of Health Care for People with Down Syndrome
  Dr Katie Greenland
  Assistant Professor, International Centre for Evidence in Disability Research, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK
• Speech perception in the presence of competing background sounds: Lifespan trajectories and sources of resilience in individuals with Down syndrome
  Dr Lori Leibold
  Senior Director of Hearing Research, Human Auditory Development Laboratory, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Omaha, NE, USA

Registration

Registration opens on 1 February 2027, when the programme is published. To receive updates about the forum, join our mailing list.