Eline Menu is a VUB alumnus, who graduated in 2001 as a Biomedical Scientist. She obtained her PhD in 2006 in the Hematology and Immunology (HEIM) lab of Prof. K. Vanderkerken where she studied the role of the bone marrow environment in the development of Multiple Myeloma (MM), a plasma cell tumor. After her post-doctoral training at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University (NY, USA), she returned to the HEIM lab. In 2015 she became a Research Professor at the VUB and set-up her own research group. She is (co-)author of more than 70 papers. Her group continues to study the interactions between MM cells and their microenvironment using both in vitro and in vivo models. The current focus of their research is the role of exosomes within the tumor environment. Specifically, her group identified that exchange of exosomes not only induces both the proliferation and survival of the MM clone but also contributes to the modulation of the BM environment in terms of angiogenesis, immune suppression and bone disease. Currently, therapeutic targets to block exosome secretion are being investigated.