She graduated in Biomedical Sciences (Master of Science, with a specialization in Communication and Education) and obtained a master degree in Teaching Biology (Lerarenopleiding Biologie, also visiting scholar of the University of Namibia). In more recent years, she was a visiting scholar at the Ohio State University and the University of Cape Town. Her research interests include communication strategies to negotiate the effects of media exposure, individual processing of media, and health communication applications (using social media).