Dr. Franco Vaccarino

Dr. Franco J. Vaccarino has been president and vice-chancellor of the University of Guelph (U of G) since 2014.

Before joining the U of G, Dr. Vaccarino served since 2007 as principal of the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) and vice-president of the University of Toronto. He joined UTSC’s Department of Psychology in 1984, and ultimately served as its chair. In Toronto, he was graduate chair of the tri-campus Graduate Department of Psychology and head of the Department of Psychiatry’s neuroscience program.

Dr. Vaccarino’s studies of the neurobiology of stress and motivation are considered a model for bridging the neural and behavioural sciences. An internationally recognized researcher and teacher, he has authored more than 100 academic publications, and is a sought-after international speaker on the neurobiology of substance abuse and brain changes from alcohol and drug dependency. In 2015, he was one of two principal editors of a national report on the effects of early and frequent marijuana use during adolescence released by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse.

Dr. Vaccarino has been honoured by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology. In 2014, he was named a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, considered a top honour for individuals in health sciences in Canada.

He has served as executive vice-president (programs) and vice-president (research) at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and as vice-president and director of research, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, both in Toronto.

Dr. Vaccarino holds a BSc from the University of Toronto and an MSc and a PhD in psychology from McGill University, and was a post-doctoral researcher at the Scripps and Salk institutes in California.