Monique received her Masters degree in experimental psychology from the University of Amsterdam in 1990 and completed her PhD at Utrecht University in 1995. The topic of the thesis was body image disturbance in anorexia nervosa. In 1996 she obtained a stipend from the Niels Stensen Stichting which enabled her to spend time as a postdoctoral fellow in visual neuroscience working with Prof Stephen Kosslyn at Harvard University. In the years that followed she gradually shifted her research focus to the chemical senses, specifically smell, when working at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia under the supervision of Dr. Pamela Dalton. This is where she developed her fascination for the topic.

In 2002 she returned to the Netherlands to join one of the research centers at Wageningen University. In 2004 Monique moved to Utrecht University where she held positions as assistant, associate and full professor and continued her chemosensory work with the support of a Vidi grant from 2004-2009. From 2011 until 2024 she had a dual affiliation, also working at Unilever R&D as science leader in Consumer Science.

Monique sees herself as linking pin between industry and university to promote mutual research addressing societal challenges.