Biomedical researchers don't typically rub elbows with rock-'n-roll royalty in the pages of glossy magazines. In fact, they never do. Until now.

Seal, Eric Topol, and David Agus Image: Geoffrey Beene / GQ

In the June issue of GQ, a popular men's fashion magazine, 11 of America's leading biomedical researchers appear alongside celebrated pop musicians for a multi-page spread called "Rock Stars of Science." The scientists traded in their elbow-patched tweed for snazzier, designer threads, for a photo shoot that the organizers of the project, a charitable men's clothing brand, hope will help heighten the public's awareness of these biologists and their work while showcasing the need for greater science funding.

"We need to get the best and brightest excited to go into science and medicine," David Agus, a University of Southern California cancer researcher, who was photographed alongside Scripps cardiologist Eric Topol and multi-platinum-selling singer Seal, told The Scientist. "This is an innovative way to bring attention to research."

"It's all very tongue and cheek but it gets people talking about what we can do to attract more grassroots support of science," said Samuel Gandy, an Alzheimer's researcher at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, who was photographed in a blue sateen shirt and a black bowtie.

Anthony Fauci, Sheryl Crow, and Harold Varmus Image: Geoffrey Beene / GQ

The campaign is the brainchild of Meryl Comer, president of the Geoffrey Beene Gives Back Alzheimer's Initiative, a philanthropic wing of the Geoffrey Beene menswear label, which donates all its net profits to support medical and educational research and outreach. She said she was inspired after reading a March 2008 Harris Interactive survey, conducted on behalf of Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, which found that only 4% of Americans could name a single living scientist. "I said, 'Well, let's celebrate scientists," Comer told The Scientist. "They're rock stars. They spend 20 years on one molecule in the hopes of modifying our lives." She personally recruited the scientists, including Nobel Prize winner Harold Varmus, Human Genome Project director Francis Collins, and NIAID director Anthony Fauci, among others. Her children and the GQ staff then helped her find the musicians, and she had her "dream team."

Rudy Tanzi, Joe Perry, and Francis Collins Image: Geoffrey Beene / GQ

"I really enjoyed the electricity and energy that was in the air," said Rudy Tanzi, an Alzheimer's researcher at the Massachusetts General Hospital, who flew in from a meeting in the Czech Republic for the photo shoot. "I basically had no sleep. With the stubble on my face I looked like a rock star, so it worked out perfectly." Tanzi, a keyboard player himself and a self-described "Aerosmith fan since I've been a kid," had his picture snapped alongside Aerosmith lead guitarist Joe Perry. Though thrilled at meeting his childhood rock idol, Tanzi kept the glamour of the experience in perspective. "Science is a lot more intimidating," he said.

"What these scientists are doing to fight diseases like breast cancer is just as much driven by inspiration and a passion for humanity as the best song ever written," said Grammy Award-winning musician Sheryl Crow, in a press release. "Without our realizing it, they are quietly making everyone's life healthier and fuller, so we all owe them our deepest respect and support."

The photo shoot itself was "a really good time," said Dale Schenk, chief scientific officer and executive vice-president of Elan Corporation, a neuroscience-based biotech company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Schenk, who was photographed alongside UCLA's Jeffrey Cummings and pop singer Josh Groban, said his "only disappointment" was that he wasn't crazy about the clothes he was given. "I was the only scientist that ended up in tennis shoes and barefoot, but what can you do?"

Geoffrey Beene strictly sells men's clothing, so only male scientists were photographed for the campaign. But "next round I'd love to do women," said Comer. In the meantime, readers can nominate their own Rock Stars of Science on the associated website, which is scheduled to launch June 1 and will also include profiles, behind-the-sciences videos, prize give-aways, and petitions. The full GQ spread can be found here or on newsstands everywhere.


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