Born and raised in Rochester NY, Dr. Bevilacqua was part of the first cohort to major in Athletic Training at SUNY Brockport. Graduating in 2012, he became a Certified Athletic Trainer and was hired by Churchville Chili as their District Athletic Trainer. Over the next several years, he completed a graduate degree in Exercise Science at the University at Buffalo and worked in various capacities at several local high schools, out-patient clinics, and colleges. In 2017, he departed from the role of practitioner to pursue his interests of teaching and concussion management at Indiana University Bloomington. While attending IUB, Dr. Bevilacqua successfully published eight scholarly papers (3 first author), two abstracts, and created a Neurotrauma curriculum that was incorporated into the Post-Professional Athletic Training Program at IUB. Receiving his PhD in 2020, he returned to Rochester to join the Exercise Science faculty at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Over the next three years, Dr. Bevilacqua published five scholarly articles (3 first author), including seminal papers in his area of expertise, Return to Learn for College/University Students (RTLU). These efforts resulted in an invitation to join the Brain Injury Association of New York State’s Concussion Advisory Committee, where he contributed to the crafting of RTLU guidelines for colleges/universities. In 2023, Dr. Bevilacqua returned to his alma mater, and is delighted to be teaching in the Athletic Training Master Program.
Education
PhD, Indiana University Bloomington
MS, University at Buffalo
BS, SUNY Brockport
Areas of Specialty
Return to Learn for Concussion in College Students
Concussion Diagnosis and Treatment
Athletic Training
Courses Taught
PES 533 Therapeutic Interventions I
PES 534 Therapeutic Agents for Musculoskeletal Injuries
PES 535 Nutritional Considerations for Athletic Training
PES 536 Injury and Illness Management
PES 539 Evidence Based Practice in Athletic Training
PES 546 Clinical Examination and Diagnosis II
PES 604 Research Methods and Evaluation
PES 634 Practical Applications of Evidence Based Practice
PES 798 Synthesis Seminar
Research Interests
Return to Learn for Concussion in College Students
Oculomotor Assessments for Concussion
Pedagogy for Athletic Training Students
Bevilacqua ZW *, (2024). Letter to the Editor: Clinical recovery from concussion-return to school and sport: a systematic review and meta-analysis. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.25508.08323.
Dieball M, Grant S, Kingma J, Kawata K, Bevilacqua ZW *, (2024). Return-to-Learn for the K-12 Student: a Mixed-Methods Systematic Review. J Athl Train. doi: 10.4085/1062-6050-0501.24.
Bevilacqua ZW *, (2024). Concussion is a Temporary Disability: Rethinking Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Sports Medicine. Front. Neurol. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1362702.
BIANYS, (2024). Return to Learn for College and University Students Handbook.
Bevilacqua ZW *, Rich J, Henry TJ, (2023). Understanding Faculty Return-to-Learn Decision-Making for College Students. NeuroRehabilitation. doi: 10.3233/NRE-230177.
Bevilacqua ZW *, Mcpherson J (2023). Commentary: Establishing the College Return to Learn Team- A Practical Approach. Front. Public Health. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1188741.
Vanderhorst M, Rawlings A, Germansky M, Chodak A, Parody R, Wilson M, Krohn A, Bauman R, Blonski C, Emke B, Bevilacqua ZW* (2023). Prognostic Utility of Oculomotor Assessments in Determining Return-to-Learn Readiness in Acutely Concussed College Student-Athletes. Neurotrauma Reports. doi: 10.1089/neur.2023.0027.
Bevilacqua ZW *, Cothran D, Rettke D, Koceja D, Nelson-Laird T, & Kawata K (2022). Return to learn: preferences of college educators when receiving concussion medical notes. Neurotrauma Reports. doi: 10.1089/neur.2022.0012.
Bevilacqua ZW *, Cothran D, Rettke D, Koceja D, Nelson-Laird T, & Kawata K (2021). Educator Perspectives on Concussion Management in the College Classroom: a Grounded Theory Introduction to Collegiate Return-to-Learn. BMJ Open. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-044487.
Coon SG †, Bevilacqua ZW †, Ferris M, Chen Z, & Kawata K * (2021). Caution in clinical interpretation of near point of convergence: influence of time of day on ocular-motor function. Athletic Training & Sports Health Care. doi: 10.3928/19425864-20190613-01.
Huibregtse ME, Zonner SW, Ejima K, Bevilacqua ZW, Newman S, Macy JT, & Kawata K * (2020). Association between muscle damage and head impacts in high school American football. International Journal of Sports Medicine. doi: 10.1055/a-1021-1735.
Bevilacqua ZW, Kerby M, Fletcher D, Chen Z, Merritt B, Huibregtse ME, & Kawata K * (2019). Preliminary Evidence-Based Recommendations for Return to Learn: a novel pilot study tracking concussion recovery in college students. Concussion. doi: 10.2217/cnc-2019-0004.
Bevilacqua ZW, Huibregtse ME, & Kawata K * (2019). In-vivo protocol of controlled subconcussive head impacts: validation of field study data. Journal of Visualized Experiments. doi: 10.3791/59381.
Zonner SW, Ejima K, Bevilacqua ZW, Huibregtse ME, Charleston C, Fulgar C, Chen Z, & Kawata K * (2019). Association of Increased Serum S100B Levels with High School Football Subconcussive Head Impacts. Frontiers in Neurology. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2019.00327.
Bevilacqua ZW * & Kawata K (2018). Procedural Shortcomings with Near Point of Convergence Assessment May Lead to Inappropriate Prognosis of Concussion Injury in Athletes: Letter to the Editor. American Journal of Sports Medicine. doi: 10.1177/0363546518800703.
Zonner SW, Ejima K, Fulgar CC, Charleston CN, Huibregtse ME, Bevilacqua ZW, & Kawata K * (2018). Oculomotor response to cumulative subconcussive head impacts in US high school football players: a pilot longitudinal study. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30570665”. JAMA Ophthalmology. (Editor’s Pick). doi: 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2018.6193.
Wirsching A, Chen Z, Bevilacqua ZW, Huibregtse ME & Kawata K * (2018). Association of acute increase in plasma neurofilament light with repetitive sub-concussive head impacts: a pilot randomized controlled trial. Journal of Neurotrauma. (Editor’s Pick). doi: 10.1089/neu.2018.5836.
Brain Injury Association of New York State Return to Learn for the University (RTLU) Webinar.2024.
Dr. Bevilacqua is a member of the Concussion Advisory Committee and Return-to-Life Subcommittee for the Brain Injury Association of New York State (BIANYS).
