Christine Chapel

Christine Chapel was a human Starfleet officer during the late 23rd and early 24th centuries. She started her career as a researcher before moving into nursing, then later earning her doctorate.

Early Life and Career
Christine Lauren Chapel was born in the United States of America, Earth circa 2240.


 * The TOS novel Planet of Judgment sets her birth year as 2241. The video game Starship Creator sets her birth in 2237. Both agree that she was born in the United States. Other information in NF novels: Fire on High and Renaissance suggest a strong similarity in appearance to Morgan Primus.

In her early career, Christine worked alongside Professor Roger Korby on scientific expeditions. In 2259, she served as Korby's assistant on an expedition to Vestalan, to study the long-dead civilization of the Hualans. (TOS short story: "Snake Pit!", Star Trek: The New Voyages 2)

As Chapel and Korby worked more closely together, a romance bloomed and the two were engaged to be married. By 2261, the two had not married, and Korby left on an expedition to the planet Exo III, with long-time friend and colleague, Dr. Aaron Brown. A few months later, with no contact from Korby's expedition, the Federation declared him missing, presumed dead. Chapel could not accept that her fiancé was dead, so she gave up her career as a researcher and signed up to work as a nurse for Starfleet. (TOS novelization: "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", Star Trek 11)

By 2264, Lieutenant Chapel was serving as Head Nurse at the Starfleet Teaching Hospital along with Dr. Leonard McCoy. During her time, she treated Captain James T. Kirk and Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell following the Battle of Ghioghe. Following this, at the request of both Dr. McCoy and Captain Kirk, Chapel signed aboard the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701). (TOS novel: Enterprise: The First Adventure)

Aboard the Enterprise (NCC-1701)
In 2265, Chapel attended Lieutenant Lee Kelso's memorial service which was held in the ship's chapel. 

In 2266, the Enterprise finally visited Exo III to determine what had happened to Korby's expedition. On arrival in orbit, the Enterprise was contacted by Korby and Kirk and Chapel transported down. It was later revealed that Korby had died shortly after discovering an android called Ruk. Before his death Korby had an android duplicate of himself created. (,

In 2268, Doctor McCoy informed Nurse Chapel that she had lost some weight after he was finished performing routine physicals on the crew. Chapel was delighted as she had been eating a lot of salads in an effort to do so. 

In 2270, Chapel decided to train for her doctorate, and upon the Enterprise's return to Earth, entered Starfleet Medical Academy to major in xenophysiology. 

Doctor Chapel
Christine Chapel served as a doctor on the medical staff of the Enterprise following its retrofit. (movie: Star Trek: The Motion Picture, novel: Ex Machina) She had an awkward moment with unrequited crush Spock in one of the Enterprise's turbolifts after the V'Ger incident; he had congratulated her on her doctorate. 

After the Enterprise's return to Earth, Chapel was assigned to Starfleet Medical on Earth. She was the doctor on call during initial tests of the transwarp engines, and was the first doctor to examine pilot Torias Dax following a shuttle disaster. However, care of the Trill was quickly turned over to a Trill doctor. (SS DS9 (Infinity))

In the early 2280s, Doctor Chapel would serve as an assistant to Chief Medical Officer Leonard McCoy when the Enterprise set out on missions as a training vessel for cadets at Starfleet Academy. Chapel and McCoy were among the small number of senior staff on that vessel on some occasions when the cadet missions went awry, including the disastrous final training cruise when the Enterprise lost many lives, including Captain Spock. After Spock's memorial services, Chapel was the first to notice aberrant behavior in Dr. McCoy, who made a public spectacle by climbing onto a table at Spock's wake. While McCoy remained disoriented and blaming his behavior on alcohol, Chapel found that there wasn't enough alcohol in McCoy's system to explain the odd behavior. While Chapel cared for the elder Doctor, she was shocked at some of his comments, which sounded like they were said in the voice of the late Spock, including a moment when McCoy snapped awake out of a deep sleep and proclaimed that "Vulcans do not love", echoing something that Spock had said to Chapel years earlier. 

In 2289, Doctor Chapel was a member of Ambassador Sarek's diplomatic team. (Excelsior: Forged in Fire)

In 2293, Chapel attended James T. Kirk's memorial service in the grounds of Starfleet Academy, along with many other former Enterprise crewmembers. (TOS novel: Crucible: The Fire and the Rose)

In 2298, Dr. Chapel, holding the rank of Commander, served as chief medical officer on the USS Excelsior (NCC-2000). 

Later life
She was "long gone" before the 2370s, according to Montgomery Scott. In 2376, Scott recognized Morgan Primus as appearing similar to Chapel, but was mistaken. (NF novel: Excalibur: Renaissance)
 * Peter David has stated his intention that these two characters are not the same person.