Dr. Paul Shapiro earned his Ph.D. in sociology and an MA in criminal justice from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is currently an assistant professor of sociology at Georgia Southwestern State University. His non-Buffy related areas of study include deviance, substance use/abuse, gambling, and applied healthcare. He is the author of Paramedic: The True Story of a New York Paramedic's Battles With Life and Death (1991), "Forensic First Response" (forthcoming), and "How Close is Too Close?: The Negative Relationship Between Knowledge of HIV Transmission Routes and Social Distancing Tendencies" (forthcoming). Prior to academia, Paul worked for ten years as a paramedic responding to 911 emergency calls in New York City. He is also the ex-chief of a fire department in New York State.