About Marc H. Shomer, MD, PhD, QME

Detailed professional biography

Education and advanced training

Dr. Shomer completed his undergraduate education in the Department of Neuroscience at UCLA, graduating in 1995 summa cum laude with Departmental Highest Honors in Neuroscience, College Honors, and election to Phi Beta Kappa. He was selected as his graduating class commencement speaker.

He entered the UCLA Medical Scientist Training Program, the National Institutes of Health–supported program that trains physician-scientists in combined MD and PhD study. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy in the UCLA Department of Neuroscience in 2002, with a dissertation on the role of extrinsic factors in the regulation of axonal sprouting in the adult brain, completed in the laboratory of Marie-Françoise Chesselet, MD, PhD, in the Department of Neurology. He received his Doctor of Medicine from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in 2004.

Dr. Shomer completed his internship in the Department of Medicine at White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles, followed by his ophthalmology residency at the Jules Stein Eye Institute at the UCLA Geffen School of Medicine from 2005 to 2008.

Board certification

Dr. Shomer was certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology in 2011 and recertified in 2021. Board certification requires completion of an accredited residency and successful examination; maintenance of certification requires ongoing assessment and continuing education.

Qualified Medical Evaluator status

Dr. Shomer holds an active appointment as a California Qualified Medical Evaluator, granted in 2025. The QME designation is issued by the State of California through the Division of Workers' Compensation and requires passing a state competency examination in medical-legal evaluation, meeting education and practice requirements, and completing continuing education with periodic reappointment. He is also available to serve as an Agreed Medical Evaluator when selected by the parties in a represented California workers' compensation matter — a role rather than a separate credential.

Medical licensure

Dr. Shomer is licensed to practice medicine in California and Nevada. In medical-legal work he serves as an independent expert and evaluator rather than as a treating physician, and he accepts matters nationwide: examinations, depositions and testimony are arranged by agreement wherever the matter requires, subject to availability and to the rules of the forum. License numbers are not published on this website; verification information can be provided to retaining counsel on request.

Academic appointment

Dr. Shomer has served as Adjunct Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC since December 2009. He has been an attending physician in the Department of Ophthalmology at Los Angeles County–USC Medical Center since 2009.

Clinical practice

Since April 2010 Dr. Shomer has maintained a private comprehensive ophthalmology practice in Upland, California. Comprehensive ophthalmology encompasses the medical and surgical management of the full range of eye disease — cataract surgery, glaucoma, diabetic and other retinal disease, ocular trauma, corneal and external disease, and neuro-ophthalmic conditions — which provides direct working familiarity with most of the clinical questions that arise in ophthalmic litigation.

He holds surgical privileges and affiliations at Archibald Surgery Center (2015–present), Mid Valley Surgery Center (2010–present), Ontario Advanced Surgery Center (2010–present), and Los Angeles County–USC Medical Center, Department of Ophthalmology (2009–present).

Research background

Dr. Shomer's research training spans neuroscience, neurophysiology, and ophthalmology. From 2003 to 2007 he studied injury-induced neurogenesis in the adult mammalian retina with Lynn K. Gordon, MD, PhD, in the UCLA Department of Ophthalmology. His doctoral research with Dr. Chesselet examined the mechanisms of axonal sprouting in the adult striatum. Earlier work included neurovascular coupling kinetics using optical intrinsic signal imaging with Arthur Toga, PhD; the neurophysiological role of nitric oxide in complex partial epilepsy with Charles L. Wilson, PhD, including in-vivo microdialysis studies in human subjects; and behavioral genetics research with John C. Liebeskind, PhD.

This background is directly relevant to medical-legal work. Evaluating causation requires the same discipline as evaluating a scientific hypothesis: identifying what the data actually establish, considering alternative explanations, and distinguishing association from causation. See Publications and Research.

Clinical trial experience

Dr. Shomer has served as Principal Investigator and Sub-Investigator on multiple clinical trials, including studies of ophthalmic and systemic therapeutics and vaccines. Clinical trial work requires rigorous protocol adherence, systematic documentation, and objective outcome assessment — the same standards applied in medical-legal evaluation.

Teaching

Dr. Shomer's teaching experience includes his current faculty appointment at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, tutoring in medical school neurology and neuroanatomy, and teaching assistantships in neurobiology and molecular biology at UCLA. He has also served as an invited speaker to professional audiences. The ability to explain complex ophthalmic concepts to non-specialists — the central task of expert testimony — has been a continuous requirement of his career.

Professional affiliations

Dr. Shomer is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, the California Academy of Eye Physicians and Surgeons, the California Medical Association, the San Bernardino Medical Association, the Orange County Society of Ophthalmology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Phi Beta Kappa. He has previously been a member of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology and the Society for Neuroscience.

Service

Dr. Shomer served as a voting member of the UCLA Medical School and MSTP Admissions Committee, as a graduate student representative on the Student Conduct Committee and the Academic Senate Council on Research, and on the UCLA School of Medicine Honors Committee. He taught elementary school children about the eye through the Vision in School Program and has volunteered at health fairs and free clinics.

Medical-legal experience

Dr. Shomer has provided ophthalmology consultation in plaintiff and defense matters for more than 13 years, involving alleged ophthalmic malpractice, ocular injury, visual loss, causation, disability and standard-of-care questions. His experience includes medical-record review, report preparation, deposition testimony and courtroom testimony. See Representative Medical-Legal Experience.

Approach and independence

Dr. Shomer accepts carefully selected plaintiff and defense matters. His opinions are formed independently after review of the relevant facts, records, examination findings and applicable medical literature. Where the evidence does not support the retaining party's theory, he says so — early, when the information is most useful. Where it does, the opinion rests on reasoning that is stated transparently and can withstand cross-examination.