Dr Alexander Agafonov

Dr Alexander Agafonov, PhD, DSc, serves as Director-General of the Federal Budgetary Research Institution State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR (FBRI SRC VB VECTOR), Rospotrebnadzor, in Koltsovo, Novosibirsk Region, Russian Federation. He leads the institution’s research portfolio on the development of diagnostics, preventive tools and treatments for viral infections, as well as work on infectious disease surveillance and monitoring. In May 2023, Dr Agafonov was appointed Head of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Orthopoxvirus Diagnosis and Repository for Variola Virus Strains and DNA.

Dr Agafonov’s principal research interests include studies on the properties of inactivated Marburg virus and the immunopathogenesis of Marburg haemorrhagic fever. His work has also encompassed investigations of wild-type measles and mumps viruses, including genetic characterisation and assessments of their immunobiological properties. Earlier in his career, he contributed to research on the immunogenic and protective properties of vaccinia virus proteins p61 and p35.

Dr Agafonov graduated from the Natural Science Department of Novosibirsk State University in 1983. He earned a PhD in Biology in 1996 at the Institute of Molecular Biology, State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR. In 2011, he obtained a DSc in Biology at FBRI SRC VB VECTOR, Rospotrebnadzor.