She received her B.A. in International Relations from Brown University (1995). She received her M.P.H. and Ph.D. in public health from Tulane University (2003). Following her doctoral studies, Dr. Afable held appointments as a Post-Doctoral Scholar at the Institute for Health Policy Studies (2005-2007), National Cancer Institute Diversity Fellow (2007-2009) and National Institute on Aging Fellow at the Center for Aging in Diverse Communities (2009-2011) all at the University of California, San Francisco.