Samuel M. Liu, MD, PhD

Director of Retina and Imaging Services, Princeton Eye Group | Chief of Ophthalmology, Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center

A Rare Combination in Eye Care

Dr. Samuel Liu is a board-certified ophthalmologist and fellowship-trained medical retina specialist who has cared for patients in central New Jersey since 1998. He performs approximately 500 cataract surgeries a year and roughly 1,500 retinal injections a year, the in-office treatments used for macular degeneration, diabetic eye disease, and retinal vein occlusion. He has also performed LASIK for over 25 years. Roughly three of every four of his patients come to him on the recommendation of another physician, an optometrist, or a current patient.

Most retina specialists do not perform cataract or LASIK surgery, and most cataract and LASIK surgeons send retinal problems to someone else. Dr. Liu does both. Retinal conditions such as macular degeneration and diabetic eye disease affect how well cataract surgery works and which lens implant is the right choice, and because Dr. Liu evaluates and manages the retina himself, patients aren’t sent back and forth between two doctors. His colleagues at Princeton Eye Group refer their cataract and LASIK candidates with retinal findings to him for that reason.

A Conservative Approach, by Design

Dr. Liu recommends surgery when the benefit to the patient is clear, and not before. With cataracts, the decision is based on how the cataract is affecting a person’s daily life rather than how it looks on the exam; many of his patients have cataracts he could operate on today, and if they are seeing and functioning well, he follows them, sometimes for years, until symptoms like glare or trouble driving at night make surgery worthwhile. The same applies to LASIK. Roughly three in ten people who come to him for a LASIK consultation are told that laser vision correction isn’t the right choice for them. That candor is part of why his LASIK patients over the years have included physicians, airline pilots, police officers, and a professional IndyCar driver.

What Patients Can Expect

What patients mention most is that Dr. Liu puts them at ease during their exams and procedures. He takes the time to explain what’s going on in their eyes in plain terms, whether that means walking through their own retinal scans on screen or picking up an eye model. He and his team also work hard to keep his schedule on time, because he’d rather patients spend their visit with him than in the waiting room. In his mind, respecting a patient’s time is an important component of quality care.

Judgment Shaped by Science

Dr. Liu earned both his MD and a PhD in Biochemistry at Vanderbilt University through the Medical Scientist Training Program, a highly selective NIH-funded scholarship. His doctoral research examined epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-R) function, and his thesis committee included Dr. Stanley Cohen, who won the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. That training shapes how he evaluates new treatments. When a new FDA-approved drug for retinal disease came to market, he chose to wait until it had a longer track record before offering it to his patients. The drug was later found to cause serious eye inflammation in some of the people who received it.

Deep Roots and Community Commitment

In 2018 Dr. Liu and his daughter founded PEG Cares Day, a recurring free clinic in which Princeton Eye Group doctors and staff volunteer their time to treat uninsured patients referred through the Zufall Health Center at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center. So far the program has held 16 clinics, treated more than 200 patients, provided sight-saving surgery at no cost, and supplied glasses at little or no cost. His son Michael, a medical student, now administers the program.

Dr. Liu grew up in Princeton Junction, graduated from West Windsor-Plainsboro High School, and raised his family in Montgomery, New Jersey. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and French. About 10 percent of his patients come to him specifically for care in Mandarin, some traveling from northern New Jersey and the Philadelphia area. For more than a decade he wrote weekly health columns, translated into Chinese, for Duowei Times and Chinese Newsweekly.

Additional Information about Samuel M. Liu, MD, PhD,

Dr. Liu practices comprehensive ophthalmology with a subspecialty focus in medical retina, and also performs cataract and laser vision correction surgery. His areas of expertise include:

Clinical Expertise

Medical Retina

Diagnosis and treatment of age-related macular degeneration (wet and
dry), diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema, retinal vein
occlusion, retinal tears, and epiretinal membrane.

Cataract Surgery

Standard and premium-lens cataract surgery, including lens selection
for patients with coexisting retinal disease.

Laser Vision Correction

LASIK candidacy evaluation and treatment, including patients whose
retinal findings require assessment before surgery.

Retinal Imaging

As Director of Retina and Imaging Services, Dr. Liu oversees
diagnostic retinal imaging for Princeton Eye Group.

Technology and Techniques

Laser Vision Correction: Dr. Liu is certified in the Alcon WaveLight EX500 excimer laser and
FS200 femtosecond laser, with wavefront-guided and Contoura
topography-guided treatment options. Candidates are evaluated with
Pentacam corneal tomography and the Allegro Topolyzer VARIO.
Cataract Surgery: He offers the full range of premium lens implants, including toric
lenses for astigmatism and extended-depth-of-focus lenses. About 80
percent of his cataract patients currently choose the Alcon PanOptix
Pro multifocal lens, which provides both distance and reading vision.
It is the lens he plans to have in his own eyes when the time comes.
Retinal Imaging: Princeton Eye Group's retinal imaging includes OCT with OCT
angiography, Optos ultra-widefield imaging, and Zeiss fluorescein and
indocyanine green angiography.
Retinal Treatment: Dr. Liu treats wet macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, and
retinal vein occlusion with the latest generation of anti-VEGF
injections, including Eylea HD, Vabysmo, Pavblu, and Avastin. He treats
geographic atrophy, a specific form of dry macular degeneration, with
Syfovre and Izervay.

Education, Experience and Leadership

Current Appointments

Princeton Eye Group — Director of Retina and Imaging Services
Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center — Chief of Ophthalmology (since 2018); attending physician since 2000
Surgery Center of Central New Jersey — Attending Surgeon

Education and Training

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Retina-Vitreous Center — Fellowship in Medical Retina
University of Maryland Medical Center — Residency in Ophthalmology
Lancaster General Hospital — Internship
Vanderbilt University — MD and PhD in Biochemistry, Medical Scientist Training Program
Johns Hopkins University — BA in Biology

Hospital Leadership

As Chief of Ophthalmology at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center, Dr. Liu oversees the eye surgeons on the hospital's staff and reviews each surgeon's work annually as part of the hospital's credentialing process.

Research and Publications

Dr. Liu's research has been published in Archives of Ophthalmology, Retina, the Journal of Glaucoma, and several prominent biochemistry journals.

Honors, Recognition and Memberships

New Jersey Top Docs, Ophthalmology — 2019 to present
Governing Board Award, New Jersey Academy of Ophthalmology — 2005
Board-certified, American Board of Ophthalmology — since 2002
Fellow, American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO)
Member, American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ASCRS)
Governing Board, New Jersey Academy of Ophthalmology
Founder, PEG Cares Day (2018)
Languages: English, Mandarin Chinese, French