Okeanis Vaou, M.D., FAAN

Dr. Vaou recently joined UT Health in San Antonio. Prior to that, she served as the Director of the Movement Disorders and Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) Center at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston, MA. Her expertise is treating patients with Parkinson’s Disease, Atypical Parkinson’s, Essential tremor and other movement disorders. She is also a Board-Certified Sleep Specialist and treats sleep disorders in patients with movement disorders. Dr. Vaou’s passion is Deep Brain Stimulation and Sleep Disorders in Parkinson’s Disease and is skilled in Botox injections. In addition to treating patients with movement disorders and Parkinson’s Disease, Dr. Vaou is the Vice Chair of Faculty Development at UT Health in San Antonio.

After receiving her medical degree from Semmelweis University of Medicine in Budapest, Hungary, Dr. Vaou completed her neurology residency at New York Medical College and served as a chief resident. She then pursued fellowships at Boston University School of Medicine in Movement Disorders and in Sleep Medicine. Following her fellowship training, she moved to Minneapolis at Noran Neurological Clinic, where she developed a robust Movement Disorders clinic. Following her passion of teaching and research, she returned to Boston Medical Center at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), to become a member of the Movement and Sleep Disorders team and served as the assistant DBS program director.

 Dr. Vaou is actively involved in medical student education. She previously served in the roles of neurology clerkship director and neuroscience course director at BUSM.  Under her guidance, the neurology clerkship and the neuroscience course were rated among the top evaluated courses. She has also served as the Neurology Clerkship director overseeing the Tufts and BUSM medical student education as well as the BUSM PA student program. Dr. Vaou has received national and regional awards for education. She was also selected to participate in the nationally esteemed program by the Academy of Neurology “Women Leading in Neurology” and was voted as one of the Best Doctors in Boston for 2021 and 2022.

Dr. Vaou also participates in clinical research evaluating novel pharmacological agents and patient education in Parkinson’s Disease. She is very involved in raising awareness of early PD and DBS treatment and PD in Women. She is also very passionate about genetic testing in people with Parkinson’s Disease with a particular focus on the Hispanic population.