Dr. Rade D. Paravina, DDS, MS, PhD, is a tenured professor and Director of the Houston Center for Biomaterials and Biomimetics at UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry, where he holds the Ralph C. Cooley, DDS, Distinguished Professorship in Biomaterials. He earned his DDS and PhD at the University of Nis School of Medicine in Serbia and joined the UTHealth faculty in 2000.

His specialization is dental color science and esthetic biomaterials; he co-designed the Linearguide 3D-Master and Bleachedguide 3D-Master shade guides with VITA Zahnfabrik and developed the free online Dental Color Matcher training program.

He is founder and past president of the Society for Color and Appearance in Dentistry (SCAD) and was appointed president of the American Academy of Esthetic Dentistry (AAED). He has authored or co-edited four books and more than 300 peer-reviewed publications, and serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Esthetic and Restorative Dentistry. His honors include the 2011 E. B. Clark Award, the SCAD Award for Lifetime Achievement, and the 2014 Jerome M. and Dorothy Schweitzer Research Award from the Greater New York Academy of Prosthodontics, and he is a Fellow of SCAD, AAED, and the American Association for Dental Research.

At Dental Leaders Academy, he teaches the science of color and appearance in restorative dentistry.