He has been at the University of New Orleans since 1992. His research examines the neuroanatomical, neurochemical and psychological organization of pain processes and modulation. Dr. Vaccarino is the Psychology Department Undergraduate Coordinator, and the current chair of the Institutional Review Board at the University of New Orleans. Using various animal models of chronic pain it has been found that the activity of specific CNS structures during the immediate onset of the injury play a critical role in the subsequent development of pain.
Studies also examine the neurochemical mediators of such injury-induced central neural plasticity.
It is believed that the identification of the mechanisms that underlie neural plasticity following injury may provide new insights for the treatment pathological pain syndromes, such as phantom limb pain. Additional research examines the neuroanatomical and neurochemical basis of opiate analgesia, tolerance and dependence, stress-induced analgesia, and the rolee of genetic factors in pain perception. The long-term goals are to better understand how pain is processed as a multidimensional experience which includes sensory, motivational, affective components. In addition, pain serves as a viable model for the study of cognitive processes related to affect, and can provide new insights into the mechanisms that underlie motivated behavior.