Bel-Air resident William Elson Shell, MD, passed away March 28, 2017 at the age of 74 following a stroke.
Dr. Shell is survived by his loving wife Lisa. He is also survived by his children Jeff, Stephanie, Dana, and Daniel; his grandchildren, Cassady, Johanna, Jacob, Anna, Ryan, Ashlyn, Joshua and Hudson, his brother Richard, his nieces and nephews, and friends.
Dr. Shell, born in Detroit, Michigan was a graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School. He emerged from one of the world’s great Cardiology research programs under the direction of Eugene Braunwald, MD, where he was described as one of the “brightest young cardiologists.”
At the conclusion of the Vietnam War, Dr. Shell served two years in the United States Air Force as the Chief of the Coronary Care Unit at Keesler Air Force Base. While serving, he was the first American physician on the American Soviet Exchange Program for which he received a Presidential Citation from President Richard Nixon.
His seminal work was with his close friends and colleagues Drs. Burton Sobel, Robert Roberts, and Milton Klein on heart muscle enzymes to diagnose heart attacks.
From 1982 to 1995, Dr. Shell was a member of the cardiology staff at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. During his tenure, he planned and implemented the merger of the coronary care unit at Cedars-Sinai.
Dr. Shell was central to the multimillion dollar National Institute Research Grants, which led to international recognition for Cedars-Sinai. While there, he made groundbreaking contributions that defined how to measure heart attacks in experimental models and humans using complex mathematical formulations of the heart.
These efforts and others were seismic in revolutionizing the treatment of heart attacks resulting in saving lives. The Coronary Care Unit under Dr. Shell’s direction helped reduce mortality from heart attacks fivefold over a period of just 20 years during his tenure.
His associates noted his great intellectual depth and his ability to think outside the box and provide innovative solutions to what seemed like unsolvable problems. He had endless energy and always seemed ageless.
Dr. Shell is described by Dr. James Forrester who recruited Dr. Shell to Cedars-Sinai as follows: “Bill had a contrarian’s scintillating wit and that, combined with his love of pizza, made Bill one of my favorite lunch companions at our local all-you-can-eat pizza house. I suppose you can pretend to be smart but you can’t pretend to be witty, and we laughed a lot at lunch. The memory of those years of challenging conventional wisdom with Bill is his treasured legacy among our group of iconoclasts who helped change the practice of cardiology.”
Dr. Shell pioneered innovative products and technologies in the medical food industry, and more recently in the nutritional supplement industry. He was a scientist and innovator and his dedication to save lives through research helped change the way heart attacks are treated. His legacy lives on in routine clinical care. Dr. Shell’s work resulted in the development of a model that saved many lives.
The Bible states that to save a life is to save the world. In that sense, Dr. Shell should be credited with saving many worlds full of people; therefore, his impact is amplified through eternity. Dr. Shell has blessed humanity with his gift of heart, intellect, vision, innovation and spirit.
He was happiest when gardening in his backyard, tending to his roses, photographing life’s memories, gourmet cooking with his wife Lisa, and tossing the ball to his dogs, Timmy and Lucy. He thoroughly enjoyed art, culture, travel, and cheering on his team, the Dodgers.
His creative and groundbreaking work, along with his boundless enthusiasm for what is possible, will be missed by his colleagues, most cherished friends, and loved ones. Dr. Shell was interred in a private ceremony, Friday, April 7, 2 pm at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Donations to his memory may be made to the Cardiovascular Research Foundation of Southern California to support The William E. Shell, MD Award for Excellence in Cardiology Training in association with the California Chapter of the American College of Cardiology: 414 North Camden Suite, 1100, Beverly Hills, California 90210 contact Lana Levi 310 278-3400 or via www.cvrf.net.
