My long-term goal is to combine optical imaging with recent innovations in molecular-targeted technologies to produce novel systems for monitoring, diagnosis and treatment of human diseases. I am interested in developing a real-time in vivo fluorescence endoscope, together with a tumor-targeted optical contrast agent, and testing their effectiveness for detecting ovarian cancer (OVCA) metastases. OVCA is the fifth leading cause of cancer death in US women and the most common cause of death in US women with gynecological malignancies. A particular difficulty in current treatment is post-surgery recurrence of the disease. Current noninvasive diagnostic techniques, such as CA125 levels, ultrasound, computerized tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography (PET) have been shown to be less sensitive than invasive reassessment surgery, which can only be applied a limited number of times due to patient tolerance and availability of healthcare resources. If effective, the aforementioned system could provide accurate, real-time, minimally invasive diagnosis of residual and/or recurrent OVCA tumors and potentially aid in early detection, while presenting all the practical advantages of optical imaging for possible clinical use: portability and relatively low cost.