Marian Elliott Koshland; Immunologist

Marian Elliott Koshland, 76, immunologist at UC Berkeley who studied the way antibodies combat disease. A former president of the American Assn. of Immunologists, Koshland headed Berkeley’s graduate affairs division of the department of molecular and cell biology. She had worked at the university since 1965 and earned an Excellence in Science Award from the Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology and a National Institues of Health Merit Award. In her research, she determined that antibodies’ special amino acid composition helps them fend off disease. Born in New Haven, Conn., she earned her degrees from Vassar College ad the University of Chicago. On Tuesday in Berkeley of lung cancer.