Secret studies, glass beads and a beautiful brain scan

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When Afghan Medical Physicist Dr Shakardokht Jafari was just a teenager, she negotiated her way out of several arranged marriages to be allowed to stay in school. When she saw an MRI scan of her sister’s brain she was amazed at the detailed images of the human body it could produce. She made up her mind to go to university and studied in secret to get there and read radiation technologies. After her father was diagnosed with leukaemia and she had to take him abroad for treatment, Shakar was determined to improve Afghanistan's cancer care. She moved to the UK to get higher qualifications, became the first Afghan woman to receive a PhD in Medical Physics, and is now on a mission to improve radiotherapy treatment around the world. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Olivia Lynch-Kelly Get in touch: [email protected] or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707 (Photo: Dr Shakardokht Jafari in a radiation lab. Credit: Courtesy of Dr Shakardokht Jafari)