Our Physicians

About Dr. Liva

Dr. Douglas Liva is the Center’s Medical Director. He is a third generation physician who graduated with honors from Harvard College in 1976. From Harvard he obtained a B. A. in the biochemical sciences. Postgraduate studies in immunology and neurophysiology followed at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Liva obtained his medical degree from University of Miami’s School of Medicine in 1981. He interned in internal medicine at Denver Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center and completed his ophthalmology residency at New Jersey College of Medicine graduating in 1986. He became Board Certified in 1987 by the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

In 1986 Dr. Douglas Liva founded Liva Eye Center with his father Edward Liva, MD who began his ophthalmology practice in Ridgewood in 1957. Liva Eye Center was originally located in Bergen Medical Center which was built in Paramus by the Liva’s in 1985. Edward Liva, MD retired in 1996.  In 2014 Dr. Douglas Liva relocated to Ridgewood creating a new dedicated eye care facility designed to facilitate the implementation of the latest technologies offered to diagnose and treat most ocular diseases.   Dr. Liva maintains staff privileges at Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, Ramapo Valley Surgical Center in Ramsey and Bergen-Passaic Cataract Laser and Surgery Center in Fair Lawn.

He was one of the few chosen as a “Top Doctor in the New York Metro Area” by the Castle Connolly guide for 24 consecutive years. He has been a recipient of the Inside New Jersey Top Doc award for last 14 years and New York Magazine Top Doctor for the last 3 years.

About Dr. Frasco

Dr. Rose Frasco has been affiliated with Liva Eye Center since 1991. She graduated from Siena College in May, 1991. During her college career, she performed clinical research on the chrondrogensis of the bone. From Siena College she received a B. A. in English with a minor in Biology.

During the period from 1991-1997, she was employed by Dr. Liva as a certified ophthalmic assistant. In 1997, Dr. Frasco entered Pennsylvania College of Optometry where she achieved Highest Clinical Honors, Honors in Pediatrics and was awarded the Conforma Contact Lens Award of Excellence graduating with a Doctorate of Optometry degree in 2001. Her optometric internships were completed at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware and at Seidenberg Protzko Eye Associates, in Havre de Grace, Maryland, an affiliate of Johns Hopkins Medical Center.

Dr. Frasco became Board Certified in both the state of New Jersey in 2001 and in the state of Florida in 2002. She has been in private practice as an optometric physician at the Liva Eye Center since May 2001. She performs comprehensive eye examinations, diagnosis and treatment of eye disease, assists in LASIK procedures and fitting of soft, rigid gas permeable, toric and specialty contact lenses. Dr. Frasco currently lectures to her local society of optometric physicians and was named as one of the “Top Optometrists in the Country” by the Consumer Research Council of America.

About Dr. Saunders

Dr. Eric Saunders has joined Liva Eye Center. Dr. Saunders is a board certified ophthalmologist who received his medical degree at the prestigious Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1996. He completed his ophthalmology residency at Vanderbilt University in 2000. In addition he obtained a fellowship in refractive surgery at Woodhams Eye Clinic in 2001. He is the Team Ophthalmologist for the NY Giants. He has practiced ophthalmology in Ridgewood since 2001. He accepts most major medical insurances.