Philippe Afonso has studied at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, and earned his PhD in Virology at Université Denis Diderot-Paris 7 in 2008.
During his doctoral training, Philippe Afonso focused mostly on the interactions of HTLV-1-infected lymphocytes with the blood-brain barrier, a vascular structure that protects the central nervous system from blood-borne pathogens and toxins. He also participated in studies on molecular epidemiology.
Philippe Afonso joined Carole Parent’s group, in the laboratory of cellular and molecular biology, at the National Cancer Institute (NIH, Bethesda, MD), as a post-doctoral fellow. During 4 years, Philippe Afonso studied neutrophil migration and chemotaxis. He focused on cell-to-cell communication during the migratory process. Studies were performed in vitro (in 2D and 3D environments) as well as in vivo.
In 2012, Philippe Afonso was recruited at Institut Pasteur, and joined the EPVO unit. His current projects focus on HTLV-1 interactions with the blood-brain barrier, and the inflammatory processes that take place upon HTLV-1 interactions. Philippe Afonso also participates in the many studies on molecular epidemiology.