Darin Okuda, M.D.

Darin T. Okuda, M.D., is a Professor in the Department of Neurology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He is a clinician-scientist specializing in multiple sclerosis and other demyelinating disorders of the central nervous system. 

Dr. Okuda serves as Director of the Neuroinnovation Program and Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology Imaging Program.

Born and raised in Hawaii, Dr. Okuda earned his undergraduate, graduate, and medical degrees at the University of Hawaii. He completed his residency training in neurology at the Barrow Neurological Institute and performed his fellowship in neuroimmunology at the University of California-San Francisco Multiple Sclerosis Center.

Dr. Okuda’s is nationally and internationally recognized for his recent work in defining and investigating the radiologically isolated syndrome. His current research focuses on creating next generation healthcare by designing innovative connections between patients and providers, developing new diagnostic and clinical surveillance metrics, and transforming medical decision-making. He is actively involved in end-to-end dynamic approaches for the design, creation, and implementation of extreme healthcare concepts aimed at delivering care more accurately, efficiently, and intelligently.

Dr. Okuda is a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology Inc., a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, a Fellow of the American Neurological Association, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology Committees on Neuroimaging and Ethics.

Dr. Okuda’s work has been published in the Annals of Neurology, Neurology, Human Molecular Genetics, Brain, Journal of NeuroImaging, Proceedings of the National American Academy of Sciences, and Science.

Medical School

University of Hawaii at Manoa John A. Burns School of Medicine (2000)

Internship

St. Joseph's Hospital & Medical Center (2001), Internal Medicine

Residency

St. Joseph's Hospital & Med. Ctr. (2004), Neurology

Fellowship

UCSF Multiple Sclerosis Center (2006), Neuroimmunology

• 3-Dimensional conformational metrics
• Artificial intelligence
• Multiple sclerosis
• Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease
• Neuroimaging
• Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder
• Radiologically isolated syndrome
• Software development

Radiologically isolated syndrome in the spectrum of multiple sclerosis

Okuda DT Multiple Sclerosis Journal 2024 May 30 630-636

The diagnostic value of the central vein sign in radiologically isolated syndrome

Landes-Chateau C, Levraut M, Okuda DT, Themelin A, Cohen M, Kantarci OH, Siva A, Pelletier D, Mondot L, Lebrun-Frenay C Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology 2024 Mar 11 662-672

Reduced resting beat-to-beat blood pressure variability in females with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis

Kissell CE, Young BE, Jarrard CP, Huang M, Allen DR, Okuda DT, Smith SA, Fadel PJ, Davis SL Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders 2024 Mar 83

The diagnostic workup of children with the radiologically isolated syndrome differs by age and by sex

Makhani N, Lebrun-Frenay C, Siva A, Shabanova V, Wassmer E, Santoro JD, Narula S, Brenton JN, Mar S, Durand-Dubief F, Zephir H, Mathey G, Rojas JI, de Seze J, Tenembaum S, Stone RT, Casez O, Carra-Dallière C, Neuteboom RF, Ahsan N, Arroyo HA, Cabre P, Gombolay G, Inglese M, Louapre C, Margoni M, Palavra F, Pohl D, Reich DS, Ruet A, Thouvenot E, Timby N, Tintore M, Uygunoglu U, Vargas W, Venkateswaran S, Verhelst H, Wickstrom R, Azevedo CJ, Kantarci O, Shapiro ED, Okuda DT, Pelletier D Journal of neurology 2024

Time to move past typical syndromes in the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis

Lebrun-Frenay C, Okuda DT Multiple Sclerosis Journal 2024

Investigating the link between regional oxygen metabolism and cognitive speed in multiple sclerosis: Implications for fatigue

Zuppichini MD, Sivakolundu DK, West KL, Okuda DT, Rypma B Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders 2023 Dec 80

Reply: Do we need new MRI criteria for the diagnosis of radiologically isolated syndrome?

Lebrun-Frenay C, Kantarci OH, Siva A, Pelletier D, Okuda DT Brain 2023 Nov 146 E104-E106

Treatment transitions in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder increase risk for disease advancement

Okuda DT, Moog TM, McCreary M, Cook K, Burgess KW, Smith AD Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders 2023 Nov 79

Radiologically isolated syndrome

Lebrun-Frenay C, Kantarci O, Siva A, Azevedo CJ, Makhani N, Pelletier D, Okuda DT The Lancet Neurology 2023 Nov 22 1075-1086

Teriflunomide and Time to Clinical Multiple Sclerosis in Patients with Radiologically Isolated Syndrome: The TERIS Randomized Clinical Trial

Lebrun-Frénay C, Siva A, Sormani MP, Landes-Chateau C, Mondot L, Bovis F, Vermersch P, Papeix C, Thouvenot E, Labauge P, Durand-Dubief F, Efendi H, Le Page E, Terzi M, Derache N, Bourre B, Hoepner R, Karabudak R, De Seze J, Ciron J, Clavelou P, Wiertlewski S, Turan OF, Yucear N, Cohen M, Azevedo C, Kantarci OH, Okuda DT, Pelletier D JAMA neurology 2023 Oct 80 1080-1088

 Featured Books

Contemporary Topics in Multiple Sclerosis. In Neurologic Clinics, Multiple Sclerosis

Okuda, DT (Ed.) (2018).

Primary Angiitis of the Central Nervous System. In MR Imaging in White Matter Disease of the Brain and Spinal Cord

Okuda DT, Vollmer TL (2006).

Enough of the Fear: An Insider's Guide to Understanding, Managing, and Living Well with Multiple Sclerosis

Wright, K, Winkler M, Okuda DT (2019).

Radiologically Isolated Syndrome: MR Imaging Features Suggestive of Multiple Sclerosis Prior to First Symptom Onset. In Advances in Imaging of Multiple Sclerosis

Okuda, DT (2017).

Immunosuppressive Treatments in Multiple Sclerosis. In Handbook of Clinical Neurology, Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders

Okuda, DT (2014).

• Mimics Innovation Award 2020
  North and South America Finalist (2020)
• STRATASYS Neuroscience Innovation Award
  Advancing neuroscience through the study of changes in 3-dimensional conformation (2020)
• Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society
  (2019)
• American Academy of Neurology, Brainstorm: A Competition for the Innovator in All of Us, Grand Prize Winner
  Innovation Award (2018)
• International Congress on Advanced Treatments & Technologies in Multiple Sclerosis
  Best Abstract Award (2018)
• Merck KGaA: Multiple Sclerosis Innovation Award
  Award for 3-dimensional modeling in multiple sclerosis (2018)
• Reality Science: DeeperMind Innovation Award
  Innovative approach towards understanding MS through augmented reality (2018)
• Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society Research Fellowship
  Research fellow within the field of vascular surgery (1997)

• American Society of Neuroimaging (2008)
• Fellow, American Academy of Neurology (2014)
• Fellow, American Neurological Association (2014)
• Fellow, British Medical Journal (2009)
• New York Academy of Sciences (2016)