Distinguished Prof. Bradley’s Former Student Featured in BBC's Woman’s Hour
Shakardokht Jafari: An Afghan Woman’s Journey, tells the story of a woman going from refugee to a pioneering cancer scientist. Shakardokht became a refugee at six, starting with a six-month trek from Afghanistan to Iran. Resisting several arranged marriages, she later attended Tehran University, studying radiation technologies.
She then continued her studies in the UK, with our very own Professor Bradley (Head, Research Centre for Applied Physics and Radiation Technologies, School of Engineering and Technology) as her supervisor. She has since become a leading medical entrepreneur in the UK, producing a method for improving radiotherapy outcomes for cancer patients. The formation of the company (of which Professor Bradley is a non-executive Director) came around at a time when she was not only pregnant, but also battling cancer.
In this intriguing interview, Shakardokht reveals much about strength of character and fortitude. The BBC Radio-4 programme ‘Woman's Hour’ was first created in 1946. At the time radio was a male-dominated industry, and so women were given this one-hour time slot for them to hear what they wanted to know about on the radio. The programme has become one of the most subscribed radio programmes anywhere in the world, with an estimated 3 million listeners, and 40% of them being male.
