Atashia Gonsalves
Atashia was born in Bury St Edmunds, but spent most of her childhood in Goa. She moved back to the UK in 2016 to attend University, starting her academic journey at Queen Mary University of London, studying for a BSc in Biomedical Research. After this she completed two MScs, one in Clinical Drug Development and the other in Cancer and Clinical Oncology, both from Barts and the London School of Medicine (QMUL).
Having completed her degrees in 2020, Atashia intended to start her career by working in cancer research. However, her first appointment was in an NHS medical laboratory, working with a team tracking new COVID variants across the UK, and processing upwards of 10,000 tests a day.
In 2022 Atashia moved to Cambridge and started working in clinical research trials for a biotechnology company. Her role entails all aspects of clinical research, from study start-up to close-out.
Atashia Gonsalves
Liaising closely with site during recruitment, she works with a variety of different teams, ranging from scientists to engineers, and acts as a bridge between teams to problem solve and ensure the trials run smoothly.
Atashia has been involved in fundraising for charities such as Cancer Research UK and the Alzheimer’s Society, and also volunteered with these charities over the weekends throughout her time at university. She loves the work that medical charities do across the UK and is therefore very happy to be joining the team as a Trustee.
An avid baker, Atashia set up her own baking business in India in 2016. She enjoys playing sport, her most recent passion being tennis, and she also loves long distance running, even hoping to run the London marathon one day. Atashia became a Trustee of MDS UK in 2024.