Clinical research is built on thousands of conversations—between researchers and participants, sponsors and study teams, physicians and patient communities. Some of those conversations shape individual studies. Others change how an entire field approaches research.
For Ashley Berg, those conversations have guided her career for more than a decade.
From working with families in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to coordinating cardiology and women’s health studies, expanding research into rural communities, and now collaborating with researchers, sponsors, CROs, and patient advocates at Beyond Celiac, Ashley has seen clinical research from many different perspectives.
Looking back, she believes every role prepared her for the work she does today.
“I had a winding path into clinical research, but looking back, every step prepared me perfectly for this field.”
Today, as Associate Director of Science at Beyond Celiac, Ashley helps bridge the gap between scientific research and the lived experiences of people with celiac disease, working toward one shared goal—making clinical trials more patient-centered while helping advance the search for better treatments and, ultimately, a cure.
Finding Her Way into Clinical Research
Ashley first encountered research during her undergraduate studies. After graduate school, however, her career began somewhere very different—as a child protection worker.
Although the role wasn’t in clinical research, it taught her skills that would stay with her throughout her career.
When the opportunity arose to join a research team in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), she worked closely with families of premature babies, supporting research that followed their developmental progress over time.
“My background in child welfare was a massive asset here, as I was already highly skilled at managing complex cases and connecting with diverse populations during vulnerable times.”
The experience showed Ashley that research wasn’t only about collecting data. It was about supporting people through some of the most challenging moments of their lives.
Her career soon took another unexpected turn.
After moving into adult cardiology clinical trials, Ashley joined a team of four. Within six months, sudden staff turnover left her managing the entire research portfolio on her own.
“I found myself managing our entire portfolio alone—which meant overseeing more than 10 active trials and tracking over 300 enrolled subjects. While it was an incredibly intense trial by fire, it was a pivotal learning experience that fast-tracked my project management and regulatory skills.”
Since then, Ashley has continued to expand her experience across women’s health research and, most recently, patient advocacy.
And while every therapeutic area has been different, one thing continues to motivate her.
“I love the challenge of mastering new therapeutic areas and ensuring that, through it all, the patient’s voice remains at the center of the science.”
No Two Days Are the Same
Like many people working in clinical research, Ashley’s days rarely look alike.
“Every day is different. Some days I’m connecting with CROs and sponsors. Other days I’m communicating with potential participants or brainstorming how to better serve our community with patient-centric research protocols.”
Every conversation is a little different, but they all contribute toward the same goal: helping research better reflect the needs of the community it hopes to serve—and giving patients a real seat at the table as protocols take shape.
Bringing the Patient Voice into Research
One of Ashley’s most meaningful learning experiences has come through her work in celiac disease research.
Because Ashley also lives with celiac disease herself, she understands many of the barriers patients face long before they ever consider participating in a clinical trial.
She explains that many people whose symptoms are well managed through a gluten-free diet receive very little ongoing medical care.
“They aren’t sitting in GI offices waiting to be found by clinical research teams.”
That reality changes how recruitment needs to work.
“A major part of my role is educating researchers and sponsors that traditional recruitment models won’t work here; we have to meet patients where they are.”
For Ashley, however, recruitment is only part of the conversation.
She believes one of the biggest opportunities lies in helping research teams better understand what participation actually feels like for patients.
One example is the gluten challenge required in many celiac disease studies.
“It is incredibly rare in clinical research to design a trial where participants are asked to knowingly ingest something that will make them actively ill.”
That reality creates both physical and emotional barriers that can be difficult to appreciate without hearing directly from people living with the disease.
“My passion is to encourage research coordinators, sponsors, and CROs to look at clinical research through the participant’s eyes. As a patient advocacy organization, we have to help them understand the commitment it takes to be a participant in a clinical trial. By bringing the patient voice to the table, Beyond Celiac helps researchers design more empathetic, realistic protocols, ensure informed consent materials validate these real anxieties, and ultimately build the trust necessary to make these trials successful.”
Looking Ahead with Hope
After working across several areas of research, Ashley believes celiac disease is entering an exciting period.
“The shift from conceptual research to a robust, active clinical pipeline is what gives me the most hope.”
She has watched biotech and pharmaceutical companies increasingly recognize the unmet need in celiac disease, leading to a growing number of therapeutic approaches entering clinical development.
To Ashley, the growing investment in research shows that meaningful treatment options are no longer simply an aspiration.
“A clinical solution isn’t just a distant theory anymore; it’s actively in development.”
At the same time, she believes there is still an opportunity to improve how trials are conducted.
If she could remove one barrier slowing progress, it would be reducing the reliance on gluten challenges and repeated upper endoscopies.
“Asking a patient with celiac disease to intentionally consume gluten—knowing it will make them sick—is a heavy emotional and physical ask. Additionally, if we could validate non-invasive biomarkers or blood tests to replace the need for biopsies, we would eliminate two bottlenecks slowing down recruitment, reduce participant drop-out rates, and accelerate trial timelines.”
For Ashley, improving research isn’t only about developing new therapies. It’s also about making participation more realistic, respectful, and patient-centered from beginning to end.
Lessons That Continue to Shape Her Work
Although Ashley’s responsibilities have evolved over the years, she says her experience as a clinical research coordinator still influences everything she does.
“There is no substitute for the groundwork of being a site coordinator and talking to potential participants every single day. That experience informed my understanding of true patient advocacy. Spending years on the front lines taught me how to bridge the gap between complex science and human empathy—a lesson that directly drives how I approach problem-solving and cross-functional collaboration today.”
Her work expanding research into rural communities reinforced another lesson that remains just as important.
“We simply cannot rely solely on major cities [as a recruitment source] and expect clinical trial data to reflect the general population.”
Ashley believes improving access means continuing to meet patients where they are, whether that’s geographically, culturally, or through more decentralized approaches to research.
She also believes some of the biggest innovations are often the simplest.
When asked what has made the greatest difference in helping patients connect with research, her answer isn’t a new technology or sophisticated platform.
“Simplifying language is probably the piece that has had the biggest impact.”
Creating tools that help people search for studies in their own communities and understand what participation involves can make research feel much more approachable.
The Stories She Remembers
When asked about one patient interaction that has stayed with her, Ashley reflects on the many people she has met throughout her career.
“I have sat with families navigating the fragility of a premature baby in the NICU, spoken with individuals who have just survived a heart attack, and connected with women walking through the complex journeys of miscarriage, infertility, or the profound joy of a new birth. Being invited into these deeply vulnerable, pivotal moments of human life is an absolute privilege, and it is exactly what reminds me every day why this work matters.”
Beyond Research
Outside of work, Ashley enjoys baking gluten-free treats, spending time outdoors, and being with family.
When football season arrives, there’s one tradition that never changes. Ashley is a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan—a love for the team that has been part of her life from the very beginning.
“I was born into this fandom.”
Win or lose, she’s happy to greet fellow Bills fans with a: “Go Bills!”
A Partnership That Moves Research Forward
As Ashley reflects on her career, one message stands above the rest.
Clinical research is never the work of one individual or one organization. Progress happens because patients, researchers, physicians, coordinators, advocacy groups, sponsors, and clinical teams work together toward a common goal.
As she puts it,
“Research participants are our true partners in discovery, not just subject numbers. Physician researchers and clinical research teams care deeply about their participants and the communities they serve. Every medical advancement is a collaborative effort, and we are profoundly grateful to the individuals who volunteer to help us advance human health.”
It’s a perspective that has guided Ashley from her earliest days as a research coordinator to her work today in patient advocacy—and one that continues to shape the future of celiac disease research.
At TrialX, we’re proud to celebrate professionals like Ashley Berg, whose work reminds us that patient-centered research isn’t only about improving recruitment or designing better studies. It’s about building trust, listening carefully, and ensuring that every scientific breakthrough begins with the people it is ultimately meant to serve.
Stay tuned for more from “Unsung But Impactful” — a series honoring the everyday heroes of clinical research.
