Our Doctors

Dr. Brian S. Thamel has been in practice for over 35 years graduating with honors from the New England College of Optometry in 1988. He is an honors graduate of Clark University in 1984. He practiced with his father, Dr. Theodore Thamel until he retired and currently practices with his wife, Dr. Valarie A. Ricciardi, his niece, Dr. Nicole Cerio and his daughter, Dr. Lauren Thamel. Dr. Thamel is a member of the American Optometric Association, Massachusetts Society of Optometrists of which he is a past president, Optometric Extension Program and the Optometric Vision and Rehabilitation Association. Dr. Thamel specializes in children’s vision and learning related vision problems. They recently opened the Vision Rehabilitation Center across the street from the main office where they provide Vision Therapy to treat children and adults with vision problems, and dry eye treatments.

He is currently a consultant at the New England Center for Children providing eye care for autistic children and Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital providing care for traumatic brain injury and stroke patients. He is also the medical director and administrator for Vision Source in Massachusetts with his wife and he is on the advisory board for the Northeast. They have also received the award for administrators of the Year for the Northeast. In his spare time, he enjoys golf, pottery, traveling and spending time with his four granddaughters.

Dr. Lauren A. Thamel graduated cum laude from Temple University in Philadelphia with a BS in Biology and a minor in Healthcare Management. Dr. Thamel graduated with honors from the New England College of Optometry in 2021, she then pursued a residency at the Jamaica Plain VA in Boston MA specializing in low vision and traumatic brain injury before joining Vision Source of Worcester and Spencer full time in 2022.

Dr. Thamel was chosen by her peers for the “Dr. Edward Joseph Troendle, Jr. Award” awarded to a student who has given highly to the community and the profession, she also received the “Eschenbach Award For Excellence In Low Vision” from the faculty. She enjoys giving back to both her community as well as her profession to ensure that our patients receive the highest level of care. She is an active member of the American Optometric Association, American Academy of Optometry and Massachusetts Society of Optometry. Dr. Thamel spends time advocating for patients at both the state and national level to make sure they have access to high quality eyecare.

Doctor Thamel serves on the board of Audio Journal, a non-profit organization that provides news and entertainment to visually and print impaired audiences in Worcester county. In 2025, Doctor Thamel was named Massachusetts Young OD of the Year, as well as completed her Fellowship in the American Academy of Optometry. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends playing board games, cooking, exploring Worcester’s restaurants and breweries, and traveling with her husband. Dr. Thamel provides primary eye care for all ages, and is residency trained in vision rehabilitation for low vision. She also enjoys treating dry eye and provides myopia control.

Dr. Valarie A. Ricciardi has been practicing for over 35 years graduating from the New England College of Optometry in 1988. She is a graduate of Assumption University in 1984. She is a member of the American Optometric Association and the Massachusetts Society of Optometrists of which she was secretary for several years and was president in 2021. She is currently co-chair of the MSO membership committee. She is also on the Board of Trustees for the New England College of Optometry. She currently practices with her husband, Dr. Brian Thamel, her niece, Dr. Nicole Cerio and her daughter, Dr. Lauren Thamel. She provides primary eyecare. She is currently an administrator for Vision Source in Massachusetts with her husband. They have received the award of Administrators of the Year for the Northeast. In her spare time she enjoys golf, traveling and spending time with her four granddaughters.

Dr. Nicole F. Cerio graduated with honors from the New England College of Optometry (NECO) in 2015. She was a member of Beta Sigma Kappa Honors Society and VOSH (Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity) during all four years of optometry school. She went to El Salvador with VOSH and China with OneSight to help provide optometric services to underprivileged populations.

Prior to attending NECO, Nicole received her undergraduate degree with honors from the University of Rhode Island.

She is a member of the American Optometric Association and the Massachusetts Society of Optometrists.

Dr. Cerio provides primary eye care for all ages, as well as vision therapy, dry eye treatments, and myopia control including orthokeratology (Paragon CRT lenses), MiSight, and Stellest glasses.

In her free time, Dr. Cerio enjoys spending time with her husband and two young children, reading, cooking, snowboarding, and traveling.

Kevin Houston, OD, M.Sc., FAAO is a Doctor of Optometry providing general eye care as well as specialty consultation for vision rehabilitation, vision development, and special populations.

Clinical and Research Focus: General Optometry, Vision Rehabilitation, Vision Development, Special Populations.

In addition to clinical training in general optometry and specialty training in the rehabilitation of neurological visual impairments, Dr. Houston has a research degree in visual science and completed a 5-year post-doctoral fellowship in visual neuro-rehabilitation engineering at Harvard Medical School and Mass Eye and Ear. After his research training, Dr. Houston spent the next decade directing a vision rehabilitation research program at Mass Eye and Ear, and later UMass Chan, developing new therapies and devices for neurological vision loss. During that time, he also staffed and directed the vision rehabilitation service at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and staffed the outpatient low vision rehabilitation service at Mass Eye and Ear and UMass Memorial Eye Clinic. He joined Vision Source in August of 2024. Dr. Houston routinely lectures locally, nationally, and internationally to other optometrists and ophthalmologists, promoting early intervention for stroke and brain injury related visual impairments using evidence-based treatments.

As a scientist, he has more than 50 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals, is named as inventor on 4 patents, and received the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology’s prestigious Carl Camras Translational Research Award in 2020 for his ability to bring new treatments into clinical practice. You will find Dr. Houston’s patent publications here: Kevin Houston – Google Scholar. Specialty care provided at Vision Source includes the provision of vision therapies, prisms for double vision, visual field expansion prisms for hemianopia (field cuts), devices for ptosis (drooping eyelid), biopics, and electronic head-mounted visual aids. He is also available for specialty consultation for the assessment and treatment of developmental visual disorders such as amblyopia and strabismus. In addition to his clinical work at Vision Source, Dr. Houston provides clinical care and conducts research for the Department of Veteran Affairs in Worcester, MA.