Associate Professor
Ph.D., Kinesiology- Coaching and Teaching Studies, West Virginia University, 2014
M.Ed., International Education, Framingham
State University, 2009
B.A., Physical Education, Federal
University of Rio de Janeiro, 2001
Health and Physical Education Curriculum and Instruction
Physical Activity in Public Health
Weight Stigma and Weight-Inclusive Practice
AI in Higher Education
Dr. Luciana Zuest is an Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at Towson University, Faculty Lead of the Towson AI Institute, and coordinator of the Health and Physical Education (HPED) program. A teacher educator with 12 years of experience in higher education, she is Certified in Public Health (CPH) and teaches courses on curriculum, instruction, and assessment in health and physical education.
Her main research area is weight stigma in physical activity settings. She co-founded Weight Inclusive Thinking for Fitness Spaces (WIT FITS), a free, open-access online course for fitness and wellness professionals and students, available at weightinclusivethinking.com and tested across four studies including two randomized controlled trials. Since its public release in 2025, organizations and universities in seven countries have requested the course for nearly 3,000 learners. In 2022 she delivered the 31st Delphine Hanna Commemorative Lecture at the National Association for Kinesiology in Higher Education on this work. She also studies AI adoption in higher education, with current projects on how kinesiology students and faculty perceive and use generative AI tools.
Dr. Zuest is a 2026–2027 Senior Fellow for Assessment and Evaluation at the University System of Maryland's Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation, a 2026 EDSAFE AI Alliance Women in AI Fellow, and was a member of the inaugural cohort of TU AI Hub Research Fellows in 2025–2026.
Zuest, L., Fogaça, J., Lee, S., Janush, C., & Clifford, D. (2026). Assessing physical educators' fat attitudes and professional role conceptions in relation to body weight. European Physical Education Review. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/1356336X261460304
Zuest, L., Fogaça, J., Lee, S., & Clifford, D. (2026). Reducing anti-fat bias among kinesiology students: A randomized controlled trial of the WIT FITS intervention. Quest. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2026.2640103
Zuest, L., DeLuca, J., Kubitz, K., Custer, L., McChalicher, G., & Leppert, K. (2026). AI adoption among kinesiology students: A technology acceptance model pilot study. International Journal of Kinesiology in Higher Education, 10(3), 163–175. https://doi.org/10.1080/24711616.2026.2626310
Zuest, L. (2026). The question worth asking first: Can AI support learning in teacher education? Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 97(3), 5–6. https://doi.org/10.1080/07303084.2025.2608570
Zuest, L., Kim, M., & Salazar, A. (2025). Weight bias among physical educators: A scoping review.
The Physical Educator, 82(6).
https://doi.org/10.18666/TPE-2025-V82-I6-12336
Zuest, L., Lee, S., Fogaça, J., Squires, N., & Clifford, D. E. (2024). WIT FITS: Effects of weight stigma intervention on exercise professionals' attitudes toward fatness: A randomized controlled trial. Recreational Sports Journal, 48(1), 3–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/15588661231219098
Zuest, L., Lee, S., Lau, R., Fogaça, J., & Clifford, D. E. (2024). Weight Inclusive Thinking for Fitness Spaces (WIT FITS): A pilot study on the effects of an online intervention on exercise professionals' anti-fat attitudes. International Journal of Kinesiology in Higher Education, 8(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/24711616.2023.2175743
Zuest, L. (2022). 31st Commemorative Delphine Hanna Lecture: Physical education and the quest for relevance in the age of precarity: Lessons from the weight inclusive thinking project (WIT). Quest, 74(2), 137–151. https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2022.2068448
Zuest, L., Lee, S., Leedeman, J., & Clifford, D. (2022). Creating weight-inclusive climates in fitness spaces. Kinesiology Review, 11(3), 251–260. https://doi.org/10.1123/kr.2021-0045
Zuest, L., Lee, S., Leedeman, J., Li, S., & Clifford, D. (2021). Promoting body size diversity in university recreation centers. Quest, 73(4), 357–374. https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2021.1970594