Jesse Lee Berry, MD

Jesse L. Berry, MD is a board-certified ophthalmologist with subspecialty training in ocular oncology. She received her undergraduate and medical degree from Harvard University in Massachusetts. Following her ophthalmology residency at the University of Southern California, she was the Assistant Chief of Service at the Los Angeles County Medical Center. She completed a fellowship in Ocular Oncology at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

She currently serves as the Vice Chair for Academic Affairs for the Department of Surgery and Director of Ocular Oncology at the Vision Center, CHLA. Dr. Berry actively treats patients with retinoblastoma, uveal melanoma, intraocular and ocular surface tumors. She is active academically within the broader field of ophthalmology and ocular oncology. She is the Vice President for the International Society of Ocular Oncology and was the conference chair for the biennial meeting in Los Angeles in 2019. She is an active advocate for mentorship and opportunities for young ophthalmologists. As such, she is a member of the Young Ophthalmologist committee through the American Academy of Ophthalmology and co-leads the committee for young ophthalmic oncologists and pathologists (YOOPs).  Dr. Berry is active within the Women in Ophthalmology organization and is the founder of WOO, Women in Ocular Oncology.

As a physician-scientist, Dr. Berry studies outcomes for retinoblastoma, melanoma and other tumors. Her main interest is the development of the aqueous humor as a liquid biopsy for retinoblastoma and other intraocular disease. She was awarded a K08 from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institute of Health in 2018 to further study this.

In 2019 she was promoted to Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Clinical Scholar, a special distinction provided by USC. In 2021 she was awarded the prestigious USC Faculty Mentoring Award. She currently holds the USC Berle & Lucy Adams Chair in Cancer Research.