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Faculty Profile


  • Dr. Vijayakumar is an Associate Professor at University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston. She earned her Doctor of Medicine from Weill Cornell Medicine Qatar and completed her Neurology residency at Virginia Commonwealth University and fellowship in Movement disorders at Baylor College of Medicine. She worked as a Movement disorder Neurologist at Prisma Health Upstate and was working on establishing a Movement disorder Fellowship program before she moved to UTMB. She will use this experience to build a Movement disorder Fellowship program at UTMB. She has published several articles in peer-reviewed journals, has multiple conference proceedings, and book chapters. She is an active member of the American Academy of Neurology and the Movement Disorder Society. Her expertise and dedication have earned her multiple honors, including the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation grant and several academic awards during her residency and medical school.

    Dr. Vijayakumar has presented at various national and international conferences and provided extensive teaching and mentoring to residents and fellows. Her clinical interests include treating patients with movement disorders including Parkinson’s disease, Essential tremor, Tardive dyskinesia, Restless legs syndrome among several others. She also has a passion for treatment strategies including deep brain stimulation (DBS) and performing procedures like botulinum toxin injections for a variety of indications, including dystonia and spasticity. Dr. Vijayakumar's research interests focus on Parkinson’s disease, dystonia, and other movement disorders. Passionate about her work, Dr. Vijayakumar is committed to providing compassionate care to all her patients.

  • Medical/Professional School:

    MD, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Doha, Qatar, 2011

    Residencies:

    Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA., 2015

    Fellowship:

    Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX., 2017

  • American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology 

    • Parkinson’s disease, Essential tremor, Dystonia, Tardive dyskinesia, Restless Legs Syndrome, Tourette Syndrome, Huntington’s disease, Ataxia, Hemifacial spasms
    • Botulinum toxin for various neurological indications
    • Deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease and Essential tremor
    • Tremor of various etiology

    • Parkinson’s disease

    • Tardive dyskinesia
    • Vijayakumar, D., & Jankovic, J. (2022). Slowing Parkinson’s disease progression with vaccination and other immunotherapies. CNS drugs, 36(4), 327-343. 
    • Vijayakumar, D., & Jankovic, J. (2018). Medical treatment of blepharospasm. Expert Review of Ophthalmology, 13(4), 233-243.
    • Machol, K., Jankovic, J., Vijayakumar, D., Burrage, L. C., Jain, M., Lewis, R. A., ... & Undiagnosed Diseases Network. (2018). Atypical Alexander disease with dystonia, retinopathy, and a brain mass mimicking astrocytoma. Neurology: Genetics, 4(4), e248. 4 
    • Wijemanne, S., Vijayakumar, D., & Jankovic, J. (2017). Apraclonidine in the treatment of ptosis. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 376, 129-132.
    • Vijayakumar, D., Wijemanne, S., & Jankovic, J. (2017). Treatment of blepharospasm with apraclonidine. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 372, 57-59. 
    • Vijayakumar, D., & Jankovic, J. (2016). Drug-induced dyskinesia, part 1: treatment of levodopa-induced dyskinesia. Drugs, 76, 759-777. 
    • Vijayakumar, D., & Jankovic, J. (2016). Drug-induced dyskinesia, part 2: treatment of tardive dyskinesia. Drugs, 76, 779-787.

  • 2016-2017: Recipient of Fellowship Grant from Dystonia Medical Research Foundation

    2012-2015: Highest in-service examination scores during Neurology residency PGY 2, 3, and 4

    2013-2015: Peer nominated Humanity award during Neurology residency PGY 3 and 4
  • Member of Movement Disorders Society

    Member of American Academy of Neurology

  • Movement Disorders Neurology