In 2017, Veerle graduated cum laude from the VU University in Amsterdam with a BSc in Medical Natural Sciences, specialising in Biomedical Imaging. Her final research project regarded The application of Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) in quantifying binding kinetics of DNA intercalators to optically manipulated DNA, with Dr Iddo Heller and Dr Freek Ariese.

As a Clarendon Scholar, Veerle subsequently joined the Oxford-Nottingham Biomedical Imaging (EPSRC and MRC) Centre for Doctoral Training, where she completed a projects on the RpoS-mediated stringent response at the single-molecule level in E. coli using both single-molecule fluorescence (PALM) and single-particle tracking, with Prof Achillefs Kapanidis and Dr Stephan Uphoff. Veerle then joined the BUBBL group, where she focussed on ultrasound-mediated opening of the blood-brain barrier using lysophosphatidylcholine. Her DPhil is currently on ultrasound-mediated modulation of cell membranes by protein-functionalised microbubbles, with Prof Eleanor Stride and Dr Erdinc Sezgin.