Keon Jafari: from cancer research to the cockpit– driving discovery through curiosity
cancer
medicine
biochemistry
10/02/2026
"Be curious enough to try"
experience
2021 - 2025
Keon began his undergraduate studies at Chapman University, majoring in molecular biology on the pre-med track. At Chapman, he began his research assessing the anticancer potency of various phytochemical extracts, while simultaneously gaining patient care experience through the COPE Health Scholars program. Moreover, outside of academic studies, Keon earned an EMT license, subsequently serving as a first responder in LA County, as well as becoming a FAA-certified private pilot.
2026 - 2027
Keon is currently earning his Master's degree in translational research at the Keck Graduate Institute, while additionally continuing his work in Dr. Kamaljit Kaur's laboratory at the Chapman School of Pharmacy. This research is centered around the synthesis and biological evaluation of peptide-drug conjugates for the treatment of various metastatic and resistant breast and skin cancers. This work was published in March of 2026 (https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics18030386), with two additional manuscripts currently in progress.
Future work
Following his Master's, Keon will shift focuses to attaining an MD while also working towards a PhD, ultimately earning dual degrees to become an MD/PhD. His PhD continues within the realm of oncology and the development of small molecule therapeutics, while his MD will focus in cardiology with a subspeciality in interventional cardiology.
To get the 10,000-foot view of STEM, a variety of different perspectives from different individuals at different stages in their career are needed. Thus far, we’ve gotten a firsthand view from the perspective of an undergraduate researcher, a professor in academia, and a scientist in industry at the crossroads of clinical studies and software. In this article, graduate student Keon Jafari shares his journey en route to an MD/PhD and the extremely valuable insight he has since gained, told through the lens of his personal experience in college and cancer research.
An initial motivation and direction influenced by family
Keon began his undergraduate degree in 2021 at Chapman University in Southern California, majoring in molecular biology with a minor in psychology. Leaving high school and entering into a new chapter in college, Keon describes how his inspiration to go into the field of medicine shifted: “when I first came to college, I already knew I wanted to be a physician because my dad’s already a physician…but as I learned more and became more mature, I realized there’s so much more [to the field] than that.” Progressing through his undergraduate studies, Keon notes how his view and appreciation towards medicine and STEM as a whole deepened from being driven by external motivations to now feeling a personal drive to help others. Additionally, reflecting on the family influence of medicine on himself from a very young age, Keon was able to not only recognize how lucky he was to have such a great role model, but also able to contextualize how the field of medicine has evolved over the past few decades. Seeing how his father practiced medicine and other doctors of his generation, Keon observed that diagnosing and treating patients was viewed more as a traditional job. However today, the traditionally STEM field of medicine is becoming ever more associated with the humanities as patient care and the ability to connect with patients is ever more emphasized.
Redefining motivation: overcoming and adapting academics
Keon’s journey to finding his internal motivations towards pursuing a career in STEM was heavily influenced during his freshman year of college, where “I’ll be quite honest, I got an F in general biology and a D in chemistry…and that’s where I sort of had to really reflect upon myself and see if this is a journey I really want to do.” Facing this initial hurdle drove Keon to question whether this truly was the path for him, a sort of imposter syndrome that many in science, especially research, encounter. However, rather than letting these doubts define him and giving up, Keon took this as a challenge to redefine his motivations for entering into the biological sciences to be from a place of personal passion and curiosity as opposed to a childhood precedent. This internal change was paralleled with a practical change in his studying as he “found that I need to really learn material, and one way to really do that is to stop comparing yourself to other people doing well and understand your own learning style.” Instead of using others as a metric for success, shifting his focus to his own studies allowed him to excel past this initial roadblock, an experience that proved to be a pivotal point in his educational journey as Keon later “went back and thanked my biology professor when I graduated. During that time in class, I was always afraid to speak up, talk to her, and I went back and I said ‘thank you.’” Looking back, Keon reflected how fear is one of the biggest obstacles to overcome as a new undergrad student at a new institution, however emphasized that “no matter how many accolades a person has…no matter how many awards or who you are, where you come from…they are just people. You cannot forget that they were once in your shoes.” By demystifying the celebrities of the scientific community, the field becomes far more accessible for early-career scientists to reach out, ask questions, and seek mentorship without fear. As a result, Keon urges “that is no reason to think that you are less than the other person, that you should hide your curiosity at all.” This is a lesson Keon would take with him as he attempted to join various labs, describing these attempts as being a process of physically going door to door of professors, introducing himself after previously reading up on their work, and inquiring into available research opportunities.
Embracing the non-linear path of research
At the same time in which he was navigating new college classes, Keon entered the realm of undergraduate research in a cancer research lab looking at “extracts of a plant called Fabiana imbricata…we wanted to test across cancer cell lines and see if there’s any inhibitory effects there, but we found none.” Undeterred by these results, Keon instead took the knowledge and invaluable lab experience gained through this initial venture and joined the lab of Dr. Kamaljit Kaur at the Chapman School of Pharmacy, a lab he is currently continuing ongoing research focused on the “design and synthesis of peptide drug conjugates targeting cancers including triple negative breast cancer and melanoma.” However, this process through research was not a linear, straightforward path. Instead, Keon describes how “it is necessary to go through some sort of hardship. Without it, you can’t grow. And it is that hardship, even though it’s so cliche, that makes you go further and makes you want to be a better scientist and makes you want to be a better doctor, dentist, therapist, nurse, anything.” This hardship he describes is one that all scientists must face and overcome in the research pipeline, and is something that many beginner researchers don’t necessarily understand off the bat. This hardship could be in the form of adjusting to a new environment, failed experiments, or other circumstances that challenges students to persevere in the face of failure. However it is from these experiences in which students can truly grow personally, something that definitely might sound cliche, yet in actuality, the personal growth that can be achieved through research is one of its most
valuable aspects, and one that is not very well elaborated upon when the topic of college research is brought up. In his case, even while his first lab experience didn’t yield objectively good results, as he states: “even though it may seem that there is no progress being done, I still took those tools and experiences somewhere else…so I think that you just need to have an open mind and don’t be afraid because everyone in your shoes is afraid. It’s just the person that actually goes in and asks for help and shows curiosity.” It is not the person that has the most knowledge initially that is set up for success, but is instead the student that is most willing to adapt, learn, and grow in response to criticism and feedback that truly succeeds. Curiosity is what drives the most impassioned to continue their work and push towards new discoveries, with Keon describing his current work: “what’s so cool is I actually design peptide drug conjugates that target specific receptors overexpressed on cancer cells without damaging healthy tissue. How cool is that? The fact that my research has the potential to have such a huge impact on the lives of patients drives me to work harder, to ask more questions, and experiment with different tests.”
A passion furthered by an unexpected diagnosis
This wonder and devotion to research became especially important to Keon in his sophomore year of college. During a routine doctor’s appointment, Keon was unexpectedly diagnosed with pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS), an extremely rare condition characterized by benign tumor growth around the tissues surrounding joints. As a result of this diagnosis, Keon was able to see medicine from the patient perspective receiving the bad news. As a researcher and aspiring physician, being able to see the flip side of the medical system is where his motivations in research shifted from being something that Keon initially pursued for intellectual curiosity and discovery, and instead to a personal drive to make breakthrough discoveries so that others would never have to go through the process of receiving difficult news, or if so, there would already be immediate treatment options. In doing so, Keon was able to harness what would be considered a very disheartening moment into even more fuel to the fire of research and medicine. This shift allowed Keon to additionally realize that even when adversity does come your way, there’s always a way to see the positive aspect: “you shouldn’t look at what’s not in your power and instead focus on what’s in your power.”
A tale of two licenses: patient care and piloting
Outside of laboratory research and his studies, Keon simultaneously obtained licenses as an EMT and private pilot, two seemingly different areas but united by a common theme of a passion to gain the most comprehensive and interdisciplinary view of a field. Beginning with the EMT license, wanting to be able to interface directly with patients and provide real care as opposed to going through paid clinical programs, Keon earned an EMT license as an undergraduate: “I worked in the ambulance for LA County, serving Compton, East LA to Santa Monica…while simultaneously working at Montclair Hospital.” Through this, Keon was able to see both sides of emergency response: that of the immediate response at the scene and transportation via ambulance as well as the clinical aspect and providing patient care in the ER, recounting this work as “very exhausting but very satisfying.” Furthermore, Keon’s work gave him a firsthand perspective into the challenges facing underrepresented communities in downtown Los Angeles, including the homeless community, issues with drug abuse, and psychological distress. This was an experience which further propagated his pursuit of medicine, as seeing the various disparities affecting his own city drove him to become the best possible physician, in order to achieve the biggest positive impact possible for individuals in similar situations.
A year prior to obtaining the EMT license, he also became a FAA-licensed private pilot (find a clip of Keon flying here!). As a kid, he was “always fascinated with flying and aviation. When I was younger, I made my own flight simulators, getting parts for cheap on eBay…bringing friends over and showing them how cool it is.” Accordingly, as soon as he was legally eligible at 16, Keon began taking flight lessons, getting his license four years later, notably describing the interdisciplinary nature of piloting: “you’re learning aerodynamics with physics…[there’s an aspect of] engineering because you are your own mechanic in the airplane…you’re a lawyer because you need to know regulations of the FAA, you’re a doctor who needs to know when things go wrong and how to treat them yourself.” As such, while these licenses individually illustrate Keon’s personal passion, it also serves to illuminate his drive to pursue what he loves and finds interesting, a theme echoed within his plans for the future.
Insight into the MD/PhD and following your passion
Thus in the present, fueled by a deep passion in both cancer research as well as medicine and patient care, Keon is currently pursuing dual MD/PhD degrees. This pathway is often looked at with apprehension and uncertainty as even the shortest possible path (factoring in four undergraduate years) takes on average a decade and a half of schooling and practice. However, instead of viewing this process as a race against time, Keon frames it as a time investment in the present, with the payoff of the future being the ability to show up everyday in a career you love and enjoy: “[it comes down to] your ultimate goal and your passions in life…go towards something that really calls to you…would you rather be miserable doing something that you’re not really happy doing because it takes less time, or would you rather be much more happy in coming to work every day and doing something that has a profound impact?” Furthermore, Keon emphasized how schooling is not necessarily something that is done or must be done in consecutive years in your youth: “I’m doing a master’s at Keck Graduate Institute where I get the amazing opportunity to engage with 40 year olds and 30 year olds who are going back and doing schooling and wanting to become a doctor, that also includes those who served in the military and others coming back to seek a further education…they still want to pursue something that they’re passionate about.” Keon brings up another especially notable aspect towards such specialized education as medical school, wherein there are so many people from diverse backgrounds, of diverse cultures, ages, and experiences, altogether breeding an extremely collaborative environment to learn from others. As such, rather than viewing an MD/PhD as the stereotypical time drain and large commitment, Keon’s passion towards the field fuels him to continue striving towards these dual degrees, which no doubt once attained will open the doors towards a lifetime career of fulfillment and satisfaction. As the popular saying goes, if you do what you love, you’ll love what you do, and as he puts it, at the end of the day, “time is time,” and you’d much rather spend that time doing something you love.
“Just say it”
Hence, concluding an interview packed with extremely valuable insight into adjusting to college, personal growth, and career pursuits, Keon offers one final piece of advice. Falling in line with an overall message to put yourself out there in life, Keon advises current high schoolers and early year undergraduates to “just say it. Whatever question you have, whatever possible answer you have, say it, no matter what…don’t be afraid to just say what you’re thinking.” Rather than be afraid to say something out of fear of external judgments, Keon emphasizes speaking up and putting yourself out there, as you would much rather be curious and inquire than quiet and unknowledgeable, a personal philosophy he echoes perfectly.
Ultimately, following Keon’s journey and experiences from the undergraduate student attempting to adapt to a new environment to now a master’s student pursuing cutting edge cancer research and clinical practice, Keon shares how these experiences have shaped the person he is today, offering invaluable insight and advice for the next generation of students interested in following a similar path.
Keon would like to acknowledge Dr. Kate Hill, Dr. Kamaljit Kaur, Dr. Douglas Fudge, Dr. Carolyn Sherff, Dr. Kristianna Sarkan, Dr. Angelika Neimz, Dr. Anastasia Levitin, Dr. Animesh Ray, and Dr. Joon Kim for their invaluable guidance and support across this journey.