Asheley Chapman was fascinated by science at a young age. “My grandparents would parade me around and have me tell my theory on static electricity,” she quipped.
But it was during a graduate school research trip to Accra, Ghana in West Africa years later that Chapman, who contemplated being a physician, realized exactly what she wanted to do. She was testing drinking water that was making people in the capital city ill, when she also became very sick. It was then that she had an “epiphany.”
“I can go to medical school, be a doctor, and I can treat patients one at a time,” Chapman said. “Or I can go into research and create therapies that prevent people from getting sick on a population level. And I have believed in that ever since.”
Today, Chapman is an assistant professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Vanderbilt University, where she leads the Chapman Lab. Her research combines protein engineering, chemical biology, and drug delivery to develop vaccines and targeted therapeutics, which are treatments designed to interact with specific cells that drive disease instead of affecting the body more broadly.
By controlling which cells a therapy engages, researchers can more precisely program immunity — in the case of vaccines, making them more potent and long-lasting, or in the case of autoimmunity, eliminating harmful cells and leaving healthy immune cells intact, preserving the body’s ability to fight infection.
For instance, there are proteins that are specific to a certain cell type. Once they get to that cell, like a cancer cell or a cell involved in autoimmunity, then a drug molecule is dropped off to attack the cell.
Chapman’s research also focuses on altering how B cells, a type of white blood cell that makes antibodies, behave in the immune system – either enhancing, suppressing, or redirecting their activity to achieve a therapeutic goal.
“We’re interested in not only designing things to probe and change the immune system, but also trying to learn about the biology that’s driving the phenomenon using our tools,” she said.
Chapman saw the impact she can make in her field in 2020 during the beginning of the pandemic. At the time, she was a graduate student at the Georgia Institute of Technology where she was part of a team working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on a vaccine platform to generate antibodies that could detect the coronavirus in patient samples.
“I felt this huge responsibility in a way that I could participate in something that could help,” said Chapman, who also has a B.A. in religious studies. “I was a small part of that, but the part that I got to play was hugely impactful for me. That is the power of the work that we do. We can respond when things happen on a huge level, or on an individual level, and make things to help people.”
Vanderbilt and Mentoring
In joining the School of Engineering, Chapman said she felt Vanderbilt provided her with the best opportunity to continue her work and build on it, particularly in collaboration with Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC).
“Vanderbilt conducts world-class research, boasts a truly collaborative environment, and has excellent core facilities,” she said. “But perhaps what drew me the most was the opportunity to engineer new medicines that could ultimately move to the clinic. The partnership of VU and VUMC enables access to human samples, which can help us understand the human biology driving response to our vaccines and therapies, which is ultimately what we are trying to do.”
While she enjoys her academic work, Chapman has another passion, and that’s mentoring. She said she wouldn’t be where she is today without the guidance and support of others.
“People invested in me and in my potential,” said Chapman, who earned her Ph.D. in biochemistry at Georgia Tech, then completed her postdoctoral training in immunoengineering at MIT and the Scripps Research Institute. “It’s like this chain that keeps on going. To participate in the growth and development of someone else, it is a huge, huge privilege for me to do that. I get a lot of energy from students.”
And they appreciate her support and enthusiasm. Zack Wallace, a biomedical engineering graduate student, said Chapman has helped him have more confidence in his research and aim for breakthroughs.
“We are challenged to think more along the lines of application and finding ways for us to be the experts,” Wallace said. “I constantly leave class feeling like I have a better understanding on techniques that could be used for my project as well as many other biomedical projects. Vanderbilt is lucky to have her, and I am excited to continue getting her support going forward.”