By Lee-Anne Freeman IThemba Labs hosted their annual open day on Saturday 16th August 2014. We are delighted to say that a group of grade 8 and grade 12 learners went to the open day. None of them had any idea what the IThemba Labs had to offer but all of them were excited to go and find out what the Labs are all about. To their amazement they found out that the IThemba Labs is a multi-disciplinary research facility that focuses on nuclear medicine, material research and radio therapy. IThemba Labs employ a variety of people some of them are engineers, physicists, biologist etc. Engineers are responsible for maintenance and operation of the cyclotron (proton separator). One main focus area is the production of nuclear medicine. These medicines are used on cancer patients. These patients are treated at the on-site hospital at the IThemba Labs. Patients receive proton and neutron therapy and those treatments are only used on radio-resistant tumours or tumours that are close to critical structures such as the eye, brain or main arteries. IThemba Labs is the only research facility of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. We are glad to say that we were there and we are going again next year. Thank you IThemba labs for inviting us to your world.
