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- An aerial view of the first three units of the Bell building and nearby landscaping and cars. The Bell Building was originally constructed in 1947 and underwent renovations in 1958, 1960, 1964 and 1979. The building was home to offices of the Departments of Surgery, Pediatrics, Radiology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Psychiatry and the Gross Anatomy laboratories. The Bell Building was not named until after the death of William Brown Bell in 1950. Bell, a Duke Endowment Trustee and President of American Cyanimid Company, took interest in the pharmaceutical work of virologist Joseph W. Beard. One of Bell's Subsidiary companies, Lederle Laboratories, made a gift to the School of Medicine toward production of a vaccine against equine encephalomyelitis, or "blind staggers in horses," a disease then taking a large toll on animals throughout the world. Bell's support allowed Duke scientist to progress rapidly in successfully developing the vaccine and subsequently becoming national leaders in vaccine and immunization. The building was taken down in 2009.
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