Dr. Edward G. Shaw is trained as a physician and mental health counselor. He was also the primary caregiver for his wife of 36 years, Rebecca, who was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease at age 54 in 2008, and died at age 62 in 2016. Dr. Shaw is a professor at the Wake Forest School of Medicine, as well as the founder an director of the Memory Counseling Program (MCP) in Geriatric Medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Health's Sticht Center on Alzheimer's Research and Health Aging. He is the author of the book Keeping Love Alive as Memories Fade: The Five Love Languages and the Alzheimer's Journey.