![Pictured: 2012 Rock Stars of Science](https://www.mskcc.org/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/node/18446/image/rsos.jpg)
(From left) Cancer biologist Johanna Joyce, Geoffrey Beene Cancer Research Center Chair Scott Lowe, cancer biologist Andrea Ventura, Memorial Sloan Kettering President and CEO Craig Thompson, Aerosmith lead guitarist Joe Perry, Deputy Physician-in-Chief of Breast Cancer Programs Larry Norton, and physician-scientist Ping Chi
The Geoffrey Beene Foundation is featuring six Memorial Sloan Kettering researchers in its current Rock Stars of Science™ campaign. Now in its third year, the campaign is showcasing scientists exclusively from Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Geoffrey Beene Cancer Research Center. The scientists are featured in GQ magazine’s December “Men of the Year” issue, along with Aerosmith lead guitarist Joe Perry, named the founding father of the campaign.
Rock Stars of Science™ aims to showcase the critical need for funding scientific research. This year’s videos and public service announcements feature Memorial Sloan Kettering President and CEO Craig B. Thompson, Geoffrey Beene Cancer Research Center Chair Scott W. Lowe, Deputy Physician-in-Chief of Breast Cancer Programs Larry Norton, former Geoffrey Beene Junior Faculty Chair and cancer biologist Johanna Joyce, and current Geoffrey Beene Junior Faculty Chairs cancer biologist Andrea Ventura and physician-scientist Ping Chi.
“The Geoffrey Beene Cancer Research Center takes a new approach to modern cancer research, with the ultimate goal of translating basic science discoveries into new ways of thinking about treating cancer,” Dr. Lowe says.
Advancing Scientific Research
The Geoffrey Beene Cancer Research Center was established at Memorial Sloan Kettering in 2006 and has continued to be funded annually by the Geoffrey Beene Foundation and Geoffrey Beene, LLC. The goal of Geoffrey Beene is to provide direct support for revolutionary new cancer research, ultimately making cancer a more manageable, and potentially curable, disease.
More than $126 million to date has been awarded to Memorial Sloan Kettering for the Geoffrey Beene Cancer Research Center and projects pursued by its scientists. The center brings together laboratory investigators from the Sloan Kettering Institute’s Cancer Biology and Genetics Program and physician-scientists from the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program, in an effort to speed the translation of research from the lab to patients in the clinic.
“Our goal is not only to cure patients who have cancer, but ultimately to prevent it,” Dr. Thompson says. “Through its support, the Geoffrey Beene Foundation allows us to recruit the best possible minds in science, and the Rock Stars of Science™ campaign helps us shine a light on the importance of cancer research.”
Learn more about the Rock Stars of Science™ and watch videos about their research.