Milessa Afonso
About Milessa Afonso
Milessa Afonso is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at NYU Langone Health, specializing in cardiovascular research and advanced laboratory techniques.
Title
Milessa Afonso currently holds the position of Postdoctoral Research Fellow at NYU Langone Health. She has been in this role since 2016, contributing to the field of medical research in New York, New York, United States.
Education and Expertise
Milessa Afonso completed her Doctor of Philosophy in Physiology at Universidade De São Paulo from 2011 to 2016. Prior to that, she earned a Master of Science degree from the same institution, studying from 2008 to 2010. She also has a Bachelor’s degree in Nutrition from Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio De Mesquita Filho, which she completed from 2003 to 2007.
Previous Roles
Before her current role, Milessa Afonso worked at Faculdade De Medicina Da Usp as a Clinical Nutritionist at the Diabetes Ambulatory from 2012 to 2014. She was also a Cardiovascular Research Trainee at Faculdade De Medicina Da Universidade De São Paulo from 2011 to 2016, and she served as a Mentor at the Institute of Metabolism and Nutrition during the same period. Additionally, she mentored nutrition students at the University of Sao Paulo Medical School from 2010 to 2014 and worked as a Scientific Writer at Nutrição Em Pauta from 2010 to 2011. Earlier in her career, she was a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of São Paulo in 2009.
Research and Laboratory Skills
Currently, Milessa Afonso conducts research focused on the inhibition of non-coding RNAs using antisense oligonucleotides to induce atherosclerosis regression. She is proficient in advanced laboratory techniques such as flow cytometry for hematopoietic and immune cells, and confocal microscopy. Her skill set includes animal handling techniques like bone marrow, peritoneal macrophage, and T cell isolations, as well as intravenous and intraperitoneal injections. She regularly presents her research findings to academic researchers, MDs, PhDs, and key opinion leaders.
Technical Competencies
Milessa Afonso is skilled in utilizing a range of software tools pertinent to her research. These include Fiji, GraphPad Prism, FlowJo, FCS Express, IPA, GEO dataset, Adobe Photoshop, and Illustrator. She also has knowledge in single-cell RNA sequencing and basic computational biology using R-studio and iCellR.