Tahagod Yousif Barakat Mohamed Ali

Tahagod Yousif Barakat Mohamed Ali is a pharmacist and cancer researcher from Sudan, currently pursuing an MSc in Applied Cancer Science at the Nuffield Department of Oncology, University of Oxford. She is a Mastercard Foundation Scholar at the University of Oxford and a member of Wolfson College. Tahagod is committed to advancing cancer research and improving treatment access in low-resource settings, particularly across Sudan.

She graduated with First Class Honours in Pharmacy from the University of Khartoum, ranking top of her class throughout her five-year programme and receiving 14 academic prizes. She was later appointed a teaching assistant in the Department of Pharmacology, where she mentored students and co-supervised graduate research projects. Her clinical experience includes work at the White Nile Oncology Center, where she administered chemotherapy and supported patients through treatment. Through charitable outreach, she has led cancer awareness campaigns in underserved communities and played a key role in enabling 30 women to receive breast cancer diagnoses and begin treatment.

Tahagod has contributed to a range of research projects. She served as a PhD research assistant on a DNA sequencing study related to schizophrenia and later supported an investigation into Tamoxifen’s effectiveness in breast cancer patients. Currently, she is involved in two studies: one exploring anti-diabetic drugs targeting Integrin-Linked Kinase in triple-negative breast cancer, and another examining the impact of chemotherapy delays on colorectal cancer outcomes.

At Oxford, Tahagod aims to build the skills and knowledge needed to transform cancer care in Sudan. She plans to return as a lecturer at the University of Khartoum and hopes to establish the country’s first master’s programme in cancer science, contributing to national education, research and early detection efforts to reduce cancer mortality.