Bieke Broux is Assistant Professor Immunology and group leader (Chronic inflammation and Blood brain barrier disruption in Neurodegeneration (CBN) lab) at Hasselt University, Belgium. During her PhD at Hasselt University (obtained in 2013), she provided first evidence for the involvement of cytotoxic CD4 T cells in multiple sclerosis pathogenesis, via fractalkine-mediated migration to the brain. After her PhD, she studied human and mouse blood brain barrier (BBB) biology at Université de Montréal, Canada. There, she discovered that IL-26, a Th17-derived cytokine, is a BBB-protective factor. For her return to Belgium, she obtained an ECTRIMS postdoctoral exchange fellowship to start her own research line at Hasselt university. In 2020, she received the Global MS Research Booster Award, an international grant awarded biennially by the Dutch foundation “Stichting MS Research” to boost the development of a postdoctoral fellow into an independent group leader. Since 2021, she is appointed as Assistant Professor, and her current activities are directed at finding solutions for patients with neurodegenerative diseases, through a focus on chronic inflammation and BBB disruption. Next to her research and teaching duties, Bieke is manager of the Flow Cytometry Unit at Hasselt University, and she is the Chair of the Inclusion Committee of the university.