Tomaz Paoliello is a Visiting Fellow at the LSE Latin America and Caribbean Centre and an assistant professor at the International Relations Department - Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP). He teaches courses on transnational urban dynamics, security governance in Latin America, and Brazilian foreign policy. He currently coordinates the Transnational Security Studies Center - NETS at PUC-SP and is a researcher for the Security Governance Studies Laboratory - LEGS.

Tomaz has a PhD and a Master’s degree in Peace and Security Studies from the San Tiago Dantas International Relations Postgraduate Program in São Paulo, Brazil. His PhD Project, completed in 2016, studied the activity of private military and security companies in a global perspective, particularly exploring their performance in formal peace settings, far from the stages of traditional conflicts. The research sought to understand how companies are able to circulate military procedures and techniques for activities not related to wars, reproducing values, interests and goals, particularly in the formation or reform of military and police forces in countries under intervention.

Tomaz is currently developing research on the “Solidary Neighbourhood program” in the State of São Paulo. The program, formulated by the military police of the State, spread the practice of neighbourhood watch to several locations. These new arrangements in São Paulo's security governance produced new assemblages of public, private and community actors. The research currently seeks to explore the transnational links that unite security governance practices associated with the development of neighbourhood watch and community security arrangements. This type of practice has been transported and adapted from more developed countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, to Brazilian cities.