Sarah grew up in New York, leaped across the country to complete her undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley and never left. She completed her BA in Molecular and Cell Biology (2010), OD (2014), Residency in Pediatrics and Primary Care (2015), and PhD in Vision Science (2019) all at UC Berkeley. She joined the faculty in 2019. Fiat Lux & Go Bears!
Sarah currently serves as the co-director of Berkeley's Myopia Management Academy.
Teaching (current):
VS206B Clinical Anatomy of the Eye and Orbit
Clinical Instruction: Myopia Control Clinic, Pediatrics Clinic
Teaching (past):
VS206C Problem-based learning
Maria Liu, OD, PhD, MPH, MBA
Maria is an associate professor of clinical optometry at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the founder and chief of the Myopia Control Clinic - the first of its kind in a teaching clinic, which now serves as a model for optometry schools across the country.
Maria is also the founder and co-director of Berkeley's Myopia Management Academy.
Originally from Beijing, Maria practiced as an ophthalmologist in China before relocating to the United States in 2000. She obtained her MBA in financial management prior to her OD training at Pacific University, College of Optometry. Maria also completed an MPH with an emphasis in biostatistics and clinical study design, and a PhD in physiological optics at UC Berkeley and shortly afterwards became a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry.The emphasis of her research and clinical expertise has been on the investigation and utilization of novel contact lens designs and pharmaceuticals in myopia control.
Maria enjoys teaching both in didactic and clinical settings. She has years of experience in teaching basic and clinical pharmacology, ocular disease, epidemiology, as well as comparative studies on the similarity and difference of primary vision care in developed vs. developing countries. Last but not the least, Maria is very enthusiastic about humanitarian services and helped organize as well as served as the attending doctor for multiple VOSH (Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity) trips to China.
Teaching (current):
OPT213 Evidence-based Optometry
OPT226 Systemic and Ocular Pharmacology
Clinical Instruction: Myopia and Advanced CL Clinic
Staff Research Assistant
Cayle grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Integrative Biology, earning highest honors in 2023. She has been an integral member of the BEAR lab for three years, focusing on projects that optimize treatment strategies for myopia control. Her research interests include: the development of ocular growth curves for children, comparitive studies on atropine dosage (Honors thesis: "Comparing 0.02% atropine in adults vs. kids"), understanding the efficacy of different concentrations of atropine (0.01% vs. 0.02%), and analysis of dosing strategies for atropine (0.01%, 0.02%, and 0.05%)
Outside of the lab, Cayle enjoys dancing, exploring new restaurants, volunteering with puppies at the SF SPCA, and spending time with her family and dogs. She is passionate about continuing her education and aims to attend medical school in the near future.
Jennifer is a Bay Area native from Pleasanton, CA. She completed her BS in Nutritional Science-Physiology and Metabolism at UC Berkeley, and she enjoyed Berkeley so much that she decided to stay another 4 years for optometry school. She is currently a second-year optometry student who enjoys cooking, thrifting, playing with her cat, learning dance choreographies from YouTube, and spending time in the sun (not just for myopia control).
Amy Chen, OD
Vivian Pham, OD
Emmy Tian, OD
Shaheryar Asad, BA
Kevin Chen-Xiao, BA
Kellie Rong, BA
Donya Partovi, BA
Saima Naseem, OD
Pawanjot Kaur, OD
Michelle Holmes, OD
Connie Chen, OD
Camellia Lee, OD
Niathi Kona, MD candidate at the Icahn School of Medicine