Gough is a cell biologist. She studied cell- and immunobiology, and molecular pathology and toxicology at the University of Leicester, graduating with a BSc in 1993 and an MSc in 1994, respectively. She continued her doctoral studies at the University of Nottingham, earning her PhD in Biomaterials in 1998. Between 1998 and 2002, she furthered her studies at both Nottingham and Imperial College London as a postdoctoral fellow working on novel composites and bioactive glasses for bone repair.