Advisory Board for Smile Arte Dental Education

Over the 20 years Dr. Matt has been in practice, he has become a recognized leader in health and wellness optimization and in implementing innovative care models to provide high-value, personalized care based on the latest evidence.

Over the 10 years prior to co-founding Paradigm Health, Dr. Matt worked at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.  His roles included being the founder and Medical Director for both the the High-Risk Medical Optimization Clinic and the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Program. He served as a professor of Anesthesiology and Surgery and the Vice-Chair for Perioperative Medicine, a role focused on applying the latest evidence to improve patient outcomes after major surgery.

For a number of years, Matt’s focus was on improving outcomes for the sickest patients presenting for major surgery, but seeing the global problems present in modern healthcare, that scope has grown to include focusing on health and wellness optimization for any patient.

Matt has published over 130 research articles and book chapters mainly focused on health optimization, quality of care, and improving patient outcomes.  He speaks regularly on topics focused on optimizing health, improving preparation for and recovery from surgery and acute illness, and improving value and systems of care.

In his practice at Paradigm, Dr. Matt is able to freely practice medicine in a comprehensive and preventive model that makes the biggest impact for his patients and that brings him tremendous joy.

Dr. David is a physician, neuroscientist, and doctor of physiology. He was the prior Chief of Pain Medicine at Vanderbilt University, Director of Acute Pain at Harvard University, and Chief Resident at the University of Florida. He is past President of the Tennessee Pain Society and has published over 60 articles, authored 8 books, and spoken regularly on topics focused on optimizing health, preventing and treating pain, and the discovery of new tools to bring relief to patients who suffer. 

Dr. Thomas W. Nabors, DDS, FACD, is a pioneering leader in oral-systemic health with over five decades of experience in dentistry and more than 40 years of research on the connection between periodontal infections and chronic systemic diseases. He introduced DNA-PCR testing for the oral microbiome in the U.S. and founded the first CLIA-approved saliva-based clinical laboratory for oral infections and systemic inflammation.

Dr. Nabors has delivered landmark presentations at institutions such as Cleveland Clinic and Harvard, and his innovations have shaped diagnostic models for both dental and medical communities. Today, he continues advancing research and education to foster collaboration between oral health and general medicine, improving patient outcomes worldwide.

Jim Thacker is the President/CEO of Utah Valley Dental Lab. Jim has a Bachelors Degree in Management/Finance from Brigham Young University. After a successful career in retail banking, he joined the family business as CFO in 2000. 

During his time with UVDL, he has helped transform the lab from a small local business into a thriving enterprise with 123 employees, including 40 owners, through a unique employee ownership model. Founded in 1962, UVDL is known for high-end aesthetics supported by strong, personal relationships. Its unique ownership structure allows for strong collaborative relationships between dentists and their ceramic teams.  

Dr. Strickland's work focuses on defining the role of the microbiome in respiratory disease outcomes, particularly respiratory syncytial virus. Early-life RSV infection appears to have a substantial impact on the risk of developing respiratory morbidity, including recurrent wheezing and subsequent asthma in children, and there are currently no primary preventive strategies for these disorders. By bridging the fields of bioinformatics and microbiology, he aims to manipulate the commensal microbiome to enhance health and prevent disease. This work relies heavily on a cotton rat model, bioinformatic modeling/statistics, metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, disease pathobiology,  and clinical cohorts.

Dr. Rob Markowitz is a translational biosciences leader focused on turning human multi-omics and microbiome data into practical, clinically relevant health products. He has worked across industry and high-growth startups, spanning translational science and computational biology roles at organizations including Evvy, The Estée Lauder Companies, and Bristol Myers Squibb. 

His work sits at the intersection of bioinformatics, biomarker discovery, applied AI/ML, and translational medicine. Rob holds a PhD in Computational Biology from Vanderbilt University and completed his Scientific Management education at Rutgers, where he also teaches courses on clinical bioinformatics.