Up, Up, and Beyond: From JCRC to Outer Space

Keith Chapes, professor of biology and director emeritus, was the Johnson Cancer Research Center (JCRC) director from 2016-2019 after having served as associate director for many years. As the Director, Chapes was involved with creating the Collaborative Research of Cancer Excellence for pancreatic cancer. “The thing that I created was what we called the Cancer Center of Excellence, and we went on to create the first Center for Excellence for pancreatic cancer.” Chapes also created an outside, peer-reviewed process for Innovative research awards, which faculty can apply for annually.

Chapes feels that building relationships with community members and advisory council members is important. “We have been incredibly lucky in the past because of the knowledgeable members of the advisory council. They have been able to give us insights and expertise from their experiences in many different fields. Finding people in the community who care about the JCRC and want to see it succeed is key.”

He also thinks from the advisory and teaching perspective, the JCRC has been at the forefront of undergraduate education. “Our job as educators is to train students. From the beginning, the cancer center has been getting students into laboratories and giving them experience. Right now, there is a big push in education engagement, and the cancer center has been doing this since it was created.”

Chapes mentored many students over the years. He is very familiar with the current JCRC Director, Sherry Fleming. “You know your director washed glassware in my lab. She came to me one summer and wanted to help in my lab. I explained that I needed someone to wash glassware and she was good at that but then she started doing experiments, and before we knew it, she was getting her Ph.D. It is extremely rewarding when your students go on and do remarkable things.”

Chapes’ research involved immune cell- tumor cell interactions, with a focus on macrophage activation to kill cancer cells and the macrophage responses to the opportunistic pathogens such as Ehrlichia chaffeenis, Staphylococccus, Salmonella, and Pasteurella. He has investigated the immune response in space with over a dozen experiments that flew on the space shuttle and two that flew to the International Space Station.

Although retired, he continues to do research. “My last grant was to fly mice to the International Space Station. We were the first to immunize mice on the space station. We know that if you get immunized in space your immune response is not as robust as it would be as if you were immunized on earth due to gravitational forces.”

Chapes continues to study the antibody genes and antibodies that were made. They are still working on that project with an active grant. “I am also consulting on what is called “rodent research.” So, this project is working on the stresses of housing on the International Space Station. I started this before I retired but my collaborator in California has asked me to continue to consult on this project. They are going to fly more mice and look at immune responses. That is exciting.”

Chapes loves basketball and played basketball daily during his thirty-five-year tenure (1984-2019) at K-State. “I was part of the Ahearn crowd, I played there for thirty plus years.” Besides consulting with his current research, he is also the current treasurer for the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research, which in November of 2022, named him a Fellow for his contributions to space research and society. He and his wife Laurine have children and grandchildren living in Kansas which bring them back to this area occasionally.

Chapes left behind the Johnson Cancer Research Center, with experienced leadership, knowing it is in position to succeed and do remarkable things.