Joseph F. Bieron, PhD, professor emeritus of chemistry, taught Zvijac. “The best gift a professor can give to his students is an excitement for the discipline. I’m pleased that an outstanding, hard-working student like John took that to heart.”
A native of Buffalo’s East Side, Zvijac and his brother, David ’72 (a chemistry major), attended Canisius High School and Canisius College. An interest in science, originally led the younger Zvijac to study biochemisty, where he says he felt like part of a Canisius family. “During the week, our professors taught classes and led research in the labs,” recalls Zvijac. “On the weekends, they joined us for racquetball or basketball games down at ‘The Aud.’”
A part-time job at a local pharmacy convinced Zvijac he wanted to pursue an advanced degree in medicine. He attended the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine and then moved to Miami, with his new wife, Gail ’82 (also a biochemistry major from Canisius), to complete his residency training. Zvijac focused on orthopedics because he “wanted to fix patients” and specialized in sports medicine because “it marries his two interests.” Now hundreds of athletes put their trust in Zvijac to repair their most challenging injuries, from dislocated knees to torn rotator cuffs and ACLs, so they can heal properly and get back in the game. “Dr. Zvijac not only cares for our players but has operated on more than 40 players from other NFL teams, including retired Baltimore Raven Ray Lewis, retired Buffalo Bill Shawn Merriman and New Orleans Saint Jonathan Vilma,” says Toriscelli. “The agents know who the best doctors are and they seek them out.”
To stay on top of his game, Zvijac conducts cutting-edge research in the fields of orthopedic medicine and surgery. At UHZ Sports Medicine Institute, he and his partners have developed new surgical techniques to reconstruct damaged ankles and knees, and to repair injured elbows and shoulders. “Right now, the use of biogenetic (or biologic) type tissues instead of metal and plastic for surgeries, such as a total knee replacement, is a burgeoning field,” explains Zvijac, who also works to educate the next generation of sports medicine professionals. He is a professor at Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine.
“I am not surprised at all that John is successful as an educator and a practitioner,” says Edward C. Kisailus, PhD, professor of biology. “He was among my first group of students as a Canisius professor and helped build the foundation for my current research. I still reference the background work he did more than 30 years ago.”
And although Zvijac shares many of those same fundamentals with his own students, the greatest lesson he hopes to impart is more personal, rather than practical. “Students who study sports medicine should know that if they think of the profession as a job, it will be a difficult life,” says Zvijac. “Canisius professors like Drs. Kisailus and Bieron showed me that education, teaching and research are all joyful – something to look forward to every day. I try to bring that concept to life in my teaching and in my practice.” Photos on this page provided by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Donna Victor Photography and Baptist Health South Florida