Franziska Loetzner, PhD
Women’s Building 8D
160 SW 26th St
Corvallis, OR 97331
United States
Academic interests
Dr. Loetzner’s research aims to advance inclusive health and fitness through Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in adapted sport and adapted physical activity. She has led and contributed to community-based interventions that seek to improve health outcomes for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). She works closely with Special Olympics International Research and Evaluation on program evaluation to enhance health and fitness initiatives designed for athletes with IDD. Her current work explores strategies for inclusive programming, stakeholder engagement, and the implementation of UDL in health and fitness interventions, and evaluation, within Special Olympics.
Biography
Dr. Loetzner obtained her PhD in Kinesiology and MS in Exercise and Sport Science from Wayne State University, where she played a key role in developing and implementing the HAPPY (Healthy Adapted Physical activity Programming for Youth) and PLANE (Physical Literacy and Nutrition Education) Programs; both tailored to support the health of Autistic children in Detroit. Her doctoral dissertation explored health-related physical fitness and physical activity in elite-level Special Olympics soccer athletes. She earned her BS in Kinesiology from Michigan State University.