Ricardo Vallejo

Director of Clinical Research

Dr. Ricardo Vallejo is the Director of Research at National Spine and Pain Centers. He is deeply committed to discovering new methods and treatments for chronic pain. Dr. Vallejo holds multiple appointments in the editorial boards of international peer review journals such as Clinical Journal of Pain, Pain Physicians, Journal of Opioid Management and Revista Mexicana de Anestesiologia.

Dr. Vallejo is the current Associate Editor of the journal Pain Practice, where he established the section Images in Pain Practice in 2007. He is also member of the examination board for the World Institute of Pain. Dr. Vallejo has published extensively in national and international peer review journals and serves as speaker in meetings around the world. He is adjunct professor at the Illinois State University. Research interests of Dr. Vallejo include management of chronic pain status, such as sympathetically maintained pain: failed back surgery, and discogenic low back pain. His research efforts are aimed at understanding the immune mechanisms underlying neuropathic pain conditions and the effects of electrical stimulation on the central and peripheral immune response.

Dr. Vallejo received his medical degree in Colombia and then pursued his PhD in Immunology at the Complutense University in Madrid Spain. During his residency in Anesthesiology at the University of Miami he became Chief Residence of the program and served as resident representative for the Florida Society of Anesthesiology and The American Society of Anesthesiology. Dr. Vallejo then pursued his fellowship in Pain Medicine at Harvard Medical School at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was awarded the Diplomate of the American Board of Anesthesiology of Anesthesiology in 2001 and further board certification in Pain Medicine in 2002. After graduation, Dr. Vallejo joined Millennium Pain Center in Bloomington, Illinois.