Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Pharmacology Of Veratrum Californicum Alkaloids As Hedgehog Pathway Antagonists, Madison L. Dirks, Owen M. Mcdougal

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Veratrum californicum contains steroidal alkaloids that function as inhibitors of hedgehog (Hh) signaling, a pathway involved in the growth and differentiation of cells and normal tissue development. This same Hh pathway is abnormally active for cell proliferation in more than 20 types of cancer. In this current study, alkaloids have been extracted from the root and rhizome of V. californicum, followed by their separation into five fractions using high performance liquid chromatography. Mass spectrometry was used to identify the presence of twenty-five alkaloids, nine more than are commonly cited in literature reports, and the Bruker Compass Data Analysis software …

Machine Learning As A Tool For Early Detection: A Focus On Late-Stage Colorectal Cancer Across Socioeconomic Spectrums, Hadiza Galadima, Rexford Anson-Dwamena, Ashley Johnson, Ghalib Bello, Georges Adunlin, James Blando

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Purpose: To assess the efficacy of various machine learning (ML) algorithms in predicting late-stage colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnoses against the backdrop of socio-economic and regional healthcare disparities. Methods: An innovative theoretical framework was developed to integrate individual- and census tract-level social determinants of health (SDOH) with sociodemographic factors. A comparative analysis of the ML models was conducted using key performance metrics such as AUC-ROC to evaluate their predictive accuracy. Spatio-temporal analysis was used to identify disparities in late-stage CRC diagnosis probabilities. Results: Gradient boosting emerged as the superior model, with the top predictors for late-stage CRC diagnosis being anatomic site, …

Effect Of Resin Bleed Out On Compaction Behavior Of The Fiber Tow Gap Region During Automated Fiber Placement Manufacturing, Von Clyde Jamora, Virginia Rauch, Sergii G. Kravchenko, Oleksandr G. Kravchenko

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Automated fiber placement is a state-of-the-art manufacturing method which allows for precise control over layup design. However, AFP results in irregular morphology due to fiber tow deposition induced features such as tow gaps and overlaps. Factors such as the squeeze flow and resin bleed out, combined with large non-linear deformation, lead to morphological variability. To understand these complex interacting phenomena, a coupled multiphysics finite element framework was developed to simulate the compaction behavior around fiber tow gap regions, which consists of coupled chemo-rheological and flow-compaction analysis. The compaction analysis incorporated a visco-hyperelastic constitutive model with anisotropic tensorial prepreg viscosity, which …

Boron Neutron Capture Therapy In The New Age Of Accelerator-Based Neutron Production And Preliminary Progress In Canada, Dominik Dziura, Sana Tabbassum, Amanda Macneil, Dalini D. Maharaj, Robert Laxdal, Oliver Kester, Ming Pan, Hiroaki Kumada, Drew Marquardt

Chemistry and Biochemistry Publications

Each year more than 3000 Canadians are diagnosed with brain cancers like glioblastoma multiforme or recurrent head and neck cancers, which are difficult to treat with conventional radiotherapy techniques. One of the most clinically promising treatments for these cancers is boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). This procedure involves selectively introducing a boron delivery agent into tumor cells and irradiating them with a neutron beam, which kills the cancer cells due to the high-linear energy transfer radiation produced by the 10B(n,α)7Li capture reaction. The theory of BNCT has been around for a long time since 1936, but has historically been limited …

Para-Methoxybenzylidene Acetal-Protected D-Glucosamine Derivatives As Ph-Responsive Gelators And Their Applications For Drug Delivery, Jonathan Bietsch, Logan Baker, Anna Duffney, Alice Mao, Mary Foutz, Cheandri Ackermann, Guijun Wang

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Carbohydrate-based low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs) are compounds with the capability to self-assemble into complex molecular networks within a solvent, leading to solvent immobilization. This process of gel formation depends on noncovalent interactions, including Van der Waals, hydrogen bonding, and π–π stacking. Due to their potential applications in environmental remediation, drug delivery, and tissue engineering, these molecules have emerged as an important area of research. In particular, various 4,6-O-benzylidene acetal-protected D-glucosamine derivatives have shown promising gelation abilities. In this study, a series of C-2-carbamate derivatives containing a para-methoxy benzylidene acetal functional group were synthesized and characterized. These compounds exhibited good …

Msdrp: A Deep Learning Model Based On Multisource Data For Predicting Drug Response, Haochen Zhao, Xiaoyu Zhang, Qichang Zhao, Yaohang Li, Jianxin Wang

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Motivation: Cancer heterogeneity drastically affects cancer therapeutic outcomes. Predicting drug response in vitro is expected to help formulate personalized therapy regimens. In recent years, several computational models based on machine learning and deep learning have been proposed to predict drug response in vitro. However, most of these methods capture drug features based on a single drug description (e.g. drug structure), without considering the relationships between drugs and biological entities (e.g. target, diseases, and side effects). Moreover, most of these methods collect features separately for drugs and cell lines but fail to consider the pairwise interactions between drugs and cell …

Cancer Incidence And Stage At Diagnosis Among People With Psychotic Disorders: Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis., Jared C Wootten, Joshua C Wiener, Phillip S Blanchette, Kelly K. Anderson

Epidemiology and Biostatistics Publications

Research regarding the incidence of cancer among people with psychotic disorders relative to the general population is equivocal, although the evidence suggests that they have more advanced stage cancer at diagnosis. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the incidence and stage at diagnosis of cancer among people with, relative to those without, psychotic disorders. We searched the MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases. Articles were included if they reported the incidence and/or stage at diagnosis of cancer in people with psychotic disorders. Random effects meta-analyses were used to determine risk of cancer and odds of advanced stage …

Cancer Incidence And Stage At Diagnosis Among People With Recent-Onset Psychotic Disorders: A Retrospective Cohort Study Using Health Administrative Data From Ontario, Canada., Jared C Wootten, Lucie Richard, Phillip S Blanchette, Joshua C. Wiener, Kelly K. Anderson

Epidemiology and Biostatistics Publications

OBJECTIVE: Prior evidence on the relative risk of cancer among people with psychotic disorders is equivocal. The objective of this study was to compare incidence and stage at diagnosis of cancer for people with psychotic disorders relative to the general population.

METHOD: We constructed a retrospective cohort of people with a first diagnosis of non-affective psychotic disorder and a comparison group from the general population using linked health administrative databases in Ontario, Canada. The cohort was followed for incident diagnoses of cancer over a 25-year period. We used Poisson and logistic regression models to compare cancer incidence and stage at …

Veratrum Parviflorum: An Underexplored Source For Bioactive Steroidal Alkaloids, Jared T. Seale, Owen M. Mcdougal

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Plants of the Veratrum genus have been used throughout history for their emetic properties, rheumatism, and for the treatment of high blood pressure. However, inadvertent consumption of these plants, which resemble wild ramps, induces life-threatening side effects attributable to an abundance of steroidal alkaloids. Several of the steroidal alkaloids from Veratrum spp. have been investigated for their ability to antagonize the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway, a key pathway for embryonic development and cell proliferation. Uncontrolled activation of this pathway is linked to the development of various cancers; most notably, basal cell carcinoma and acute myeloid leukemia. Additional investigation of Veratrum …

Probing The Link Between Pancratistatin And Mitochondrial Apoptosis Through Changes In The Membrane Dynamics On The Nanoscale, Stuart R. Castillo, Brett W. Rickeard, Mitchell Dipasquale, Michael H.L. Nguyen, Aislyn Lewis-Laurent, Milka Doktorova, Batuhan Kav, Markus S. Miettinen, Michihiro Nagao, Elizabeth G. Kelley, Drew Marquardt

Chemistry and Biochemistry Publications

Pancratistatin (PST) is a natural antiviral alkaloid that has demonstrated specificity toward cancerous cells and explicitly targets the mitochondria. PST initiates apoptosis while leaving healthy, noncancerous cells unscathed. However, the manner by which PST induces apoptosis remains elusive and impedes the advancement of PST as a natural anticancer therapeutic agent. Herein, we use neutron spin-echo (NSE) spectroscopy, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and supporting small angle scattering techniques to study PST's effect on membrane dynamics using biologically representative model membranes. Our data suggests that PST stiffens the inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM) by being preferentially associated with cardiolipin, which would lead to …

Synthesis Of A Novel Ras Farnesyl Protein Transferase Inhibitor, Mark F. Mechelke, Anna Mikolchak

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Mutant RAS proteins are associated with 30% of all human cancers. Unregulated cell growth caused by mutant RAS proteins can be prevented by RAS farnesyl protein transferase (FPTase) inhibitors. A novel FPTase inhibitor has been synthesized incorporating a modified farnesyl “tail” and a customized diphosphate “head”. It is anticipated that the modified “tail”, incorporating a phenyl substituent, will bind more tightly to FPTase due to nonbonding interactions between the aromatic ring and ten aromatic amino acid residues that line the enzyme active site. The altered polar “head”, designed from L-aspartic acid, has already been shown to mimic the natural substrate’s …

Foundations Of Plasmas For Medical Applications, T. Von Woedtke, Mounir Laroussi, M. Gherardi

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Plasma medicine refers to the application of nonequilibrium plasmas at approximately body temperature, for therapeutic purposes. Nonequilibrium plasmas are weakly ionized gases which contain charged and neutral species and electric fields, and emit radiation, particularly in the visible and ultraviolet range. Medically-relevant cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAP) sources and devices are usually dielectric barrier discharges and nonequilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma jets. Plasma diagnostic methods and modelling approaches are used to characterize the densities and fluxes of active plasma species and their interaction with surrounding matter. In addition to the direct application of plasma onto living tissue, the treatment of liquids …

A Machine Learning Framework For Identifying Molecular Biomarkers From Transcriptomic Cancer Data, Md Abdullah Al Mamun

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cancer is a complex molecular process due to abnormal changes in the genome, such as mutation and copy number variation, and epigenetic aberrations such as dysregulations of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA). These abnormal changes are reflected in transcriptome by turning oncogenes on and tumor suppressor genes off, which are considered cancer biomarkers.

However, transcriptomic data is high dimensional, and finding the best subset of genes (features) related to causing cancer is computationally challenging and expensive. Thus, developing a feature selection framework to discover molecular biomarkers for cancer is critical.

Traditional approaches for biomarker discovery calculate the fold change for each …

Synergistic Anticancer Response Of Curcumin And Piperine Loaded Lignin-G-P (Nipam-Co-Dmaema) Gold Nanogels Against Glioblastoma Multiforme, Xinyi Zhao, Bilal Javad, Daxing Cui, James Curtin, Furong Tian

Articles

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive and commonly diag- 11 nosed brain cancer and presents a strong resistance to routine chemotherapeutic drugs. 12 The present study involves the synthesis of Lignin-g- p (NIPAM-co-DMAEMA) gold 13 nanogel, loaded with curcumin and piperine to treat GBM. The application has three 14 functions: (1) overcome the limitations of biodistribution, (2) enhance the toxicity of an- 15 ticancer drugs against GBM, (3) identify the uptake pathway. Atom transfer radical 16 polymerization was used to synthesize the Lignin-g-PNIPAM network, crosslinked with 17 the gold nanoparticles (GNPs) to self-assemble into nanogels. The size distribution and …

Bibliometric Analysis Of Named Entity Recognition For Chemoinformatics And Biomedical Information Extraction Of Ovarian Cancer, Vijayshri Khedkar, Charlotte Fernandes, Devshi Desai, Mansi R, Gurunath Chavan Dr, Sonali Tidke Dr., M. Karthikeyan Dr.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

With the massive amount of data that has been generated in the form of unstructured text documents, Biomedical Named Entity Recognition (BioNER) is becoming increasingly important in the field of biomedical research. Since currently there does not exist any automatic archiving of the obtained results, a lot of this information remains hidden in the textual details and is not easily accessible for further analysis. Hence, text mining methods and natural language processing techniques are used for the extraction of information from such publications.Named entity recognition, is a subtask that comes under information extraction that focuses on finding and categorizing specific …

Limitations Of Transformers On Clinical Text Classification, Shang Gao, Mohammed Alawad, Michael Todd Young, John Gounley, Noah Schaefferkoetter, Hong-Jun Yoon, Xiao-Cheng Wu, Eric B. Durbin, Jennifer Doherty, Antoinette Stroup, Linda Coyle, Georgia D. Tourassi

Kentucky Cancer Registry Faculty Publications

Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) and BERT-based approaches are the current state-of-the-art in many natural language processing (NLP) tasks; however, their application to document classification on long clinical texts is limited. In this work, we introduce four methods to scale BERT, which by default can only handle input sequences up to approximately 400 words long, to perform document classification on clinical texts several thousand words long. We compare these methods against two much simpler architectures -- a word-level convolutional neural network and a hierarchical self-attention network -- and show that BERT often cannot beat these simpler baselines when classifying …

Photodynamic Therapy Of Inorganic Complexes For The Treatment Of Cancer, Chloe B. Smith, Lindsay C. Days, Duaa R. Alajroush, Khadija Faye, Yara Khodour, Stephen J. Beebe, Alvin Holder

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a medicinal tool that uses a photosensitiser and a light source to treat several conditions, including cancer. PDT uses reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as cytotoxic singlet oxygen ¹O₂ to induce cell death in cancer cells. Chemotherapy has historically utilized the cytotoxic effects of many metals, especially transition-metal complexes. However, chemotherapy is a systemic treatment so all cells in a patient's body are exposed to the same cytotoxic effects. Transition metal complexes have also shown high cytotoxicity as PDT agents. PDT is a potential localized method for treating several cancer types by using inorganic …

The Resistive Barrier Discharge: A Brief Review Of The Device And Its Biomedical Applications, Mounir Laroussi

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper reviews the principles behind the design and operation of the resistive barrier discharge, a low temperature plasma source that operates at atmospheric pressure. One of the advantages of this plasma source is that it can be operated using either DC or AC high voltages. Plasma generated by the resistive barrier discharge has been used to efficiently inactivate pathogenic microorganisms and to destroy cancer cells. These biomedical applications of low temperature plasma are of great interest because in recent times bacteria developed increased resistance to antibiotics and because present cancer therapies often are accompanied by serious side effects. Low …

Integrated Multiparametric Radiomics And Informatics System For Characterizing Breast Tumor Characteristics With The Oncotypedx Gene Assay, Michael A. Jacobs, Christopher B. Umbricht, Vishwa S. Parekh, Riham H. El Khouli, Leslie Cope, Katarzyna J. Macura, Susan Harvey, Antonio C. Wolff

Radiology Faculty Publications

Optimal use of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) can identify key MRI parameters and provide unique tissue signatures defining phenotypes of breast cancer. We have developed and implemented a new machine-learning informatic system, termed Informatics Radiomics Integration System (IRIS) that integrates clinical variables, derived from imaging and electronic medical health records (EHR) with multiparametric radiomics (mpRad) for identifying potential risk of local or systemic recurrence in breast cancer patients. We tested the model in patients (n = 80) who had Estrogen Receptor positive disease and underwent OncotypeDX gene testing, radiomic analysis, and breast mpMRI. The IRIS method was trained …

Epidemiology Of Cancers In Men Who Have Sex With Men (Msm): A Protocol For Umbrella Review Of Systematic Reviews, Manoj Kumar Honaryar, Yelena Tarasenko, Maribel Almonte, Vitaly Smelov

Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Environmental Health Sciences Faculty Publications

While earlier studies on men having sex with men (MSM) tended to examine infection-related cancers, an increasing number of studies have been focusing on effects of sexual orientation on other cancers and social and cultural causes for cancer disparities. As a type of tertiary research, this umbrella review (UR) aims to synthesize findings from existing review studies on the effects of sexual orientation on cancer. Relevant peer-reviewed systematic reviews (SRs) will be identified without date or language restrictions using MEDLINE, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and the International Prospective Register for Systematic Reviews, among others. The research team members will …

A Web-Based, Positive Emotion Skills Intervention For Enhancing Posttreatment Psychological Well-Being In Young Adult Cancer Survivors (Empower): Protocol For A Single-Arm Feasibility Trial, John M. Salsman, Laurie E. Mclouth, Michael Cohn, Janet A. Tooze, Mia Sorkin, Judith T. Moskowitz

Behavioral Science Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Adolescent and young adult cancer survivors (AYAs) experience clinically significant distress and have limited access to supportive care services. Interventions to enhance psychological well-being have improved positive affect and reduced depression in clinical and healthy populations but have not been routinely tested in AYAs.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this protocol is to (1) test the feasibility and acceptability of a Web-based positive emotion skills intervention for posttreatment AYAs called Enhancing Management of Psychological Outcomes With Emotion Regulation (EMPOWER) and (2) examine proof of concept for reducing psychological distress and enhancing psychological well-being.

METHODS: The intervention development and testing are …

Using Case-Level Context To Classify Cancer Pathology Reports, Shang Gao, Mohammed Alawad, Noah Schaefferkoetter, Lynne Penberthy, Xiao-Cheng Wu, Eric B. Durbin, Linda Coyle, Arvind Ramanathan, Georgia Tourassi

Kentucky Cancer Registry Faculty Publications

Individual electronic health records (EHRs) and clinical reports are often part of a larger sequence-for example, a single patient may generate multiple reports over the trajectory of a disease. In applications such as cancer pathology reports, it is necessary not only to extract information from individual reports, but also to capture aggregate information regarding the entire cancer case based off case-level context from all reports in the sequence. In this paper, we introduce a simple modular add-on for capturing case-level context that is designed to be compatible with most existing deep learning architectures for text classification on individual reports. We …

Comparative Survival Of Asian And White Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Men Treated With Docetaxel, Susan Halabi, Sandipan Dutta, Catherine M. Tangen, Mark Rosenthal, Daniel P. Petrylak, Ian M. Thompson Jr., Kim N. Chi, Johann S. De Bono, John C. Araujo, Christopher Logothetis, Mario A. Eisenberger, David I. Quinn, Karim Fizazi, Michael J. Morris, Celestia S. Higano, Ian F. Tannock, Eric J. Small, William Kevin Kelly

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

There are few data regarding disparities in overall survival (OS) between Asian and white men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). We compared OS of Asian and white mCRPC men treated in phase III clinical trials with docetaxel and prednisone (DP) or a DP-containing regimen. Individual participant data from 8820 men with mCRPC randomly assigned on nine phase III trials to receive DP or a DP-containing regimen were combined. Men enrolled in these trials had a diagnosis of prostate adenocarcinoma. The median overall survival was 18.8 months (95% confidence interval [CI] = 17.4 to 22.1 months) and 21.2 months (95% …

Vimentin Protects Cells Against Nuclear Rupture And Dna Damage During Migration, Alison E. Patteson, Amir Vahabikashi, Katarzyna Pogoda, Stephen A. Adam, Kalpana Mandal, Mark Kittisopikul, Suganya Sivagurunathan, Anne Goldman, Robert D. Goldman, Paul A. Janmey

Physics - All Scholarship

Mammalian cells frequently migrate through tight spaces during normal embryogenesis, wound healing, diapedesis, or in pathological situations such as metastasis. Nuclear size and shape are important factors in regulating the mechanical properties of cells during their migration through such tight spaces. At the onset of migratory behavior, cells often initiate the expression of vimentin, an intermediate filament protein that polymerizes into networks extending from a juxtanuclear cage to the cell periphery. However, the role of vimentin intermediate filaments (VIFs) in regulating nuclear shape and mechanics remains unknown. Here, we use wild-type and vimentin-null mouse embryonic fibroblasts to show that VIFs …

9th Annual Postdoctoral Science Symposium, University Of Texas Md Anderson Cancer Center Postdoctoral Association

Annual Postdoctoral Science Symposium Abstracts

The mission of the Annual Postdoctoral Science Symposium (APSS) is to provide a platform for talented postdoctoral fellows throughout the Texas Medical Center to present their work to a wider audience. The MD Anderson Postdoctoral Association convened its inaugural Annual Postdoctoral Science Symposium (APSS) on August 4, 2011.

The APSS provides a professional venue for postdoctoral scientists to develop, clarify, and refine their research as a result of formal reviews and critiques of faculty and other postdoctoral scientists. Additionally, attendees discuss current research on a broad range of subjects while promoting academic interactions and enrichment and developing new collaborations.

Dietary Inflammatory Index And Non-Communicable Disease Risk: A Narrative Review, Catherine M. Phillips, Ling-Wei Chen, Barbara Heude, Jonathan Y. Bernard, Nicholas C. Harvey, Liesbeth Duijts, Sara M. Mensink-Bout, Kinga Polanska, Giulia Mancano, Matthew Suderman, Nitin Shivappa, James R. Hébert

Faculty Publications

There are over 1,000,000 publications on diet and health and over 480,000 references on inflammation in the National Library of Medicine database. In addition, there have now been over 30,000 peer-reviewed articles published on the relationship between diet, inflammation, and health outcomes. Based on this voluminous literature, it is now recognized that low-grade, chronic systemic inflammation is associated with most non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancers, respiratory and musculoskeletal disorders, as well as impaired neurodevelopment and adverse mental health outcomes. Dietary components modulate inflammatory status. In recent years, the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII^®), a literature-derived …

Drinking Water, Nitrates, And The Great Commandment, Robert Dehaan

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"As a society, we will need to develop and implement policies that reward land managers for the environmental services they provide, in addition to the crops they produce."

Posting about loving our neighbors by stewarding the creation from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/drinking-water-nitrates-and-the-great-commandment/

Synthesis Of Novel Reiii And Rev Metallointercalator Complexes For Use As Dna Damage Probes, Eli Schwartz

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Cancer is a disease that affects millions around the globe. Treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy are often used to treat cancerous tumors, but are not 100% effective in curing the patient. Alternatively, some research groups have proposed the use of metallointercalators, metal complexes consisting of a rhodium, ruthenium, or iridium metal center with bidentate supporting ligands such as bipyridine and phenanthroline, or tridentate ligands such as terpyridine. The complexes also contain a bidentate intercalating group such as dipyridophenazine. These complexes possess the ability to directly bind to DNA through intercalation between the stacks of DNA base pairs, giving them …

Vitamin D: Controversy Cancer And Beyond, Cristian J. Rosales, Debasish Bandyopadhyay

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Vitamins are an essential part to wellbeing. This was not something always known however, as the Germ theory was the accepted thesis of the 18th century. It was found that certain accessory factors helped mitigate and even cure these diseases such as beriberi, scurvy, and rickets. Accessory factors, later coined vitamins by Casimir Funk, are an essential constituent of the human diet. Vitamin D is technically not a vitamin but functions as a steroid hormone whose most well-known purpose is calcification of the human skeleton. This helps prevent osteomalacia in adults and rickets, a serious problem in children due to …

Synthesis And Evaluation Of 4-Cycloheptylphenols As Selective Estrogen Receptor-Β Agonists (Serbas), K. L. Iresha Sampathi Perera, Alicia M. Hanson, Sergey V. Lindeman, Andrea Imhoff, Xingyun Lu, Daniel S. Sem, William A. Donaldson

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

A short and efficient route to 4-(4-hydroxyphenyl)cycloheptanemethanol was developed, which resulted in the preparation of a mixture of 4 stereoisomers. The stereoisomers were separated by preparative HPLC, and two of the stereoisomers identified by X-ray crystallography. The stereoisomers, as well as a small family of 4-cycloheptylphenol derivatives, were evaluated as estrogen receptor-beta agonists. The lead compound, 4-(4-hydroxyphenyl)cycloheptanemethanol was selective for activating ER relative to seven other nuclear hormone receptors, with 300-fold selectivity for the β over α isoform and with EC₅₀ of 30–50 nM in cell-based and direct binding assays.