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Outlook: Secret studies, glass beads and a beautiful brain scan

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26/07/2023 GMT

Secret studies, glass beads and a beautiful brain scan

BBC World Service - Outlook, Secret studies, glass beads and a beautiful brain scan

The Afghan scientist who fought to go to university after seeing an MRI scan

Afghan Medical Physicist Dr Shakardokht Jafari negotiated her way out of marriage and studied in secret to get to university. She’s now on a mission to improve cancer care.

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: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707

(Photo: Dr Shakardokht Jafari in a radiation lab. Credit: Courtesy of Dr Shakardokht Jafari)

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