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12/09/2008 12:40 PM
Doctors Double As Rock Stars To Help Raise Cancer Awareness

By: Kafi Drexel

A group of doctors are trying to raise awareness about cancer in the operating room and on stage. NY1's Kafi Drexel filed the following report.

Dr. Nimesh Nagarsheth of Mt. Sinai Medical Center is a busy women's cancer doctor by day, but take away the white lab coat and you have a rock star.

Nagarsheth and five other doctors from around the country are all skilled surgeons in the field of gynecologic oncology. But while they're on the frontline against women's cancers in the operating room, they're also fighting to raise awareness through their band N.E.D, which stands for "No Evidence of Disease" – a state they aim to get all of their patients to.

The group formed to entertain other doctors at the Society of Gynecological Oncology's annual conference this year. And, like any classic "out-of-the box" rock story, they now have a record deal.

"It's a dream come true in the sense that all of us have been talking about this since we were little kids, and we've actually commented on that," he says.

Signed with New York City-based Motema Records and with the support of the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation, much of the group's original music deals with themes in the fight against cancer.

Co-lead singer, Dr. John Boggess is a surgeon at UNC-Chapel Hill.

"We think that people need to understand about these diseases and the women who have them," says Boggess. "So anything that we can do outside of the surgery we do every day in the operating room and in the clinic, we find to be an incredible privilege."

It may be hard for some people to envision their surgeons as potential rock stars. But this group says they don't really think it's much of a stretch to switch from scalpel to guitar pick.

"I really strongly believe that music does reflect what happens in life and what happens in life is reflected in music," says Nagarsheth. "And we have a strong understanding of each of those, so we can really help each other in both of those categories."

One of Nagasheth's patients, Samantha Hill, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at young age, says finding our her doctor is a rocker on the side wasn't much of a stretch for her – and she hopes N.E.D's message gets across.

"You're 35 years old and you hear that you have cancer, and you're in shock," she recalls. "I felt that he could relate and I think music is a very important tool. And I think that specifically, ovarian cancer, there's not much awareness and it's really a silent killer."

The N.E.D album is set for release next fall.