3:41 p.m., Sept. 29, 2008----Bernice Zeldin Schacter, who taught as an adjunct professor on the faculty of UD's Master of Liberal Studies Program since 2001 in Newark and Southern Delaware, died Sept 21, 2008, in her home in Greenville, Del., after an extended illness.

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She was born in 1943 to Dr. Aaron and Mrs. Jenny Zeldin.

Dr. Schacter earned her bachelor's degree from Bryn Mawr College and her doctorate in biology from Brandeis University. After postdoctoral work at the Lawrence Radiation Lab in California and the University of Miami, she held faculty positions at the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine, Wesleyan University, the Case Western University School of Medicine, as well as at the University of Delaware.

An immunology researcher, Dr. Schacter did hands on research with such diverse groups as the Amish in Ohio and small communities on the Nile. She served as associate director of immunology for Bristol Myers Squibb, leaving to become vice president of research at BioTransplant in 1991. Since 1994, she has been a biomedical consultant and freelance medical writer and was the author of several books about biotechnology and drug development.

Dr. Schacter was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1991 and used her unique perspective as a scientist, patient and researcher to bring better information on new therapies to fellow clients. She served as vice president and on the Board of Trustees for the Connecticut Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, as well as a research advocate. From 2000, she served on the Delaware chapter board and as a research advocate.

She is survived by her husband, Dr. Lee Philip Schacter, whom she married in 1968; her two daughters, Sara and Beth; her sister, Lee Zeldin, and her brother, Michael Zeldin. and six nieces.

A private memorial service will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the National MS Society at [http://www.nationalmssociety.org/index.aspx] or to Doctors Without Borders at [http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org].