Dr Flavio F Alcantara graduated in 1992 at Santos Medical School (CM Lusíadas) and underwent medical redidency training in clinical pathology from 1993 to 1995 in the Central Laboratory Division (DLC) at the Clinical Hospital of the University of Sao Paulo Medical School (HC FMUSP).

After that, he worked for 6 years in medical and biological research: initially (1996 1998), as a post-doctoral fellow at The Scripps Research Institute CA –USA autoimmunity under Dr. Eng Tan 1996-98, and then (1998-01) in HBV virology under Dr Alan McLachlan.

He came back to Brazil in 2001, and undertook the doctorate programe at the University of Sao Paulo Medical School concluded in 2006, period in which he also side worked at the IACS Clinical Laboratory (Instituto de Análises Clínicas de Santos).

Since 2006 he became assistant physician at the DLC FMUSP, while working part time in major clinical diagnostic laboratories in Brazil.  In 2007 he went back to IACS (maintaining his part time position at the DLC HCFMUSP).  There, became a partner and then director (2015).  In 2021, IACS was sold to Fleury Group, where he became partner at the IACS Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory and current production director.

He has been actively involved in Clinical Pathology under the Brazilian Society for Clinical Pathology/Laboratory Medicine (SBPC/ML) where he is delegate for Santos region.

In 2010 he became an IFCC delegate (International Federation for Clinical Chemistry), representing SBPC/ML at the Committee of Kidney Diseases, becoming Committee Chairman 2021-22 and now consulting member.  He became WASPaLM LATAM Director 2024-26.