Dr. Vaccaro straightened the curve and then stabilized the spine with a morphogenic protein-infused cadaver bone. “It allows the stem cells in the body to turn from an undifferentiated cell to a bone cell,” Dr. Vaccaro said in the report. The protein helps decrease long term pain, reduce revision rates and promote faster healing.
As the recipient of the 2010 Leon Wiltse Award for excellence in leadership and clinical research from the North American Spine Society, Dr. Vaccaro is poised to continue developing and performing such innovative surgery. His research interests include the timing of surgery after traumatic spinal cord injury, using alternative bone graft substitutes in spinal surgery and developing spinal implants for traumatic and degenerative spinal disorders.
Dr. Vaccaro is associated with many professional organizations, including the Cervical Spine Research Society, Scoliosis Research Society, International Society of the Study of the Lumbar Spine and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. In addition to treating his patients, Dr. Vaccarro is a professor and attending surgeon of orthopedics and neurosurgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia and the co-director of the Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center of the Delaware Valley in Philadelphia.
Dr. Vaccaro earned his medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C., and completed his residency in orthopedic surgery at Thomas Jefferson University. His additional training includes a surgical internship at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and a sports medicine fellowship at the University of San Diego.
Read other coverage on orthopedic and spine industry leaders:
– Orthopedic and Spine Industry Leader to Know: Dr. Allan Mishra of California’s Total Tendon
