Dr. Cleaver received his medical degree from the University of Rome, Italy with a strong emphasis on nutrition. With his medical education, hands on experience and a strong interest in nutrition while living in Rome, he is a strong proponent of the Mediterranean diet and active lifestyle. During his time in Italy, Dr. Cleaver developed an in-depth understanding of the impact of the Mediterranean diet and lifestyle on the prevention of chronic illness, longevity, and quality of life. Following medical school in Italy, Dr. Cleaver returned to the U.S., completing his residency in internal medicine at Robert Wood Johnson - Jersey Shore University Medical Center, and a fellowship in rheumatology at the University of Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Prior to opening Paradigm Wellness Medical Group Inc in Napa and Dallas TX, Dr. Cleaver was an assistant clinical professor at University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center. Subsequently, he joined the Cooper Clinic/Cooper Institute in Dallas, Texas, a nonprofit research and education organization dedicated globally to preventive medicine. From 1996 to 2009, he conducted hundreds of clinical trials, researching the effects of lifestyle, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals in the treatment of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and metabolic disorders, weight loss, exercise and longevity. As Head of The Division of Clinical Research and the Human Performance and the staff physician for the personal trainers certification program at the Cooper Institute 2006 -2009), he collaborated on the continued advancement and improvement of the CCLS (The Cooper Clinic Longitudinal Study) that contains more than 250,000 records from almost 100,000 individuals representing more than 1,800,000 person-years of observation.
He has authored and published research and textbook chapters. He has conducted NIH research, funded by Homeland Security grants, assessing the health and developing fitness programs for first responders, focusing on first responders. He currently is a staff writer for several international sports and anti-aging magazines. Currently, he is co-authoring the exercise and muscle health chapter for the George Washington Medical School Integrative Medicine textbook.
Throughout his career, Dr. Cleaver has been dedicated his career to anti-aging, and sports performance and sports injuries. At the Functional Human Performance Lab in Napa, California he conducts VO2 max, metabolic efficiency point, aerobic and anaerobic threshold testing on elite athletes. Combined with functional sports nutrition counseling and sports nutraceuticals, he designs comprehensive winning strategies for cyclists, triathletes, endurance and ultra-runners. The lab also focuses on the prevention and treatment of sports injuries and osteoarthritis with Platelet Rich Plasma therapy (PRP).
As a PRP expert he applies this cutting edge regenerative medical science in the treatment of hair restoration, aesthetics - skin and face rejuvenation.
Currently, he sees patients at his Paradigm Wellness Medical Group Inc offices based in Dallas, San Francisco, and Napa Valley. He is on the teaching faculty at the Metabolic Medical Institute, the American Academy of Anti-aging and Regenerative Medicine (consulting physician for the development of the men’s health certification program) and a professor at George Washington University School of Medicine.