Shakardokht Jafari was born in Daykundi, Afghanistan in 1977 and grew up as a refugee in Iran, where she completed her BSc in radiation technologies at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences.

After moving back to Afghanistan, she secured a teaching post in radiology at Kabul Medical University. In 2010 she moved to the University of Surrey in the UK to study a master’s in medical physics, becoming the first Afghan woman to earn a PhD in that subject. She was awarded the Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future award for her second year of studies.

The founder of her own radiation technology company, she is a winner of a Women in Innovation award and is chair of the charity Education Bridge for Afghanistan.