Fibrosis, or scarring, is a process which complicates many diseases of the lung and other organs and for which there is no current treatment. It is also associated with many cancers. Fibrotic diseases constitute a heavy burden of morbidity and untimely deaths. There are currently no ways to detect the activity of fibrosis in human tissues in life. The aims of the project are to generate and validate, in a biological setting, a series of probes for the detection and analysis of fibrosis in vitro and in vivo. This project aims to develop ‘smart’ probes to detect fibrosis in ‘real time’. This will be achieved by the combined application of organic synthesis and ‘cutting-edge’ technology to perform optical imaging microscopy deep in diseased organs to detect the activity of a ‘tiny’ dose of a coloured compound which has been designed to specifically detect key events in the fibrotic process. The biological targets chosen are well recognised as key components of the fibrogenic pathway and are amenable for optical imaging using probe-based confocal laser endoscopy. The research pathway detailed herein will create novel active chemical “smartprobes” as markers of fibrogenesis in situ to rapidly establish early diagnosis and efficacy of much needed new therapies in scarring diseases of the lung and other organs. This technology will enable us not only to detect fibrosis, also to develop new drugs for human disease.