It was 2009 when Dr. Rudy Tanzi was asked to appear in a GQ magazine photo shoot for a campaign called “Rock Stars of Science.” The shoot, organized by the Geoffrey Beene Foundation, was aimed at raising awareness of scientific research by matching accomplished researchers with famous musicians. Tanzi, who heads Massachusetts General Hospital’s Genetics and Aging Research Unit and teaches neurology at Harvard Medical School, was paired with a fellow Bostonian, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry.

“After the shoot, I was talking to Joe, and I said that actually I play,” Tanzi said. “He said we should jam some time.”