Weiss, Don: - Don Weiss was born in the Bronx and composed his first story at the age of six while sitting on the stoop of his Inwood apartment. It was an illustrated story about the misadventures of a neighborhood boy named Andy. He attended a small liberal arts college in Pennsylvania and embarked on a career as a chemist before switching to medicine. He practiced urban pediatrics in New York City and the Midwest for seven years and then entered the field of public health. He was an infectious disease epidemiologist for the New York City Department of Health for 23 years. He has written four novels, three of which are public health mysteries, and served as a script and set consultant for the major motion picture, Contagion. Don currently is an assistant women's basketball coach and adjunct professor of public health.