The Analytical and Surface Chemistry (ASC) program of the Division of Chemistry will support the CAREER development plan of Prof. Craig Aspinwall of the University of Arizona. Prof. Aspinwall's integrated research and education program focuses on the design and utilization of new intracellular optical nanoshell sensors prepared with polymerizable phospholipids. Prof. Aspinwall and his research group will construct stabilized intracellular chemical sensors for glucose, pyruvate, phytate and other physiologically important analytes using a combination of vesicle-encapsulated enzymes and fluorescent indicator dyes and proteins. The resultant sensors will be used to monitor complex biological systems. The research of Prof. Aspinwall will apply measurement science to address problems that are currently at the frontier of biological research and will serve as an ideal platform for inter-disciplinary education. At the pedagogical level, the chemical and analytical challenges of these research problems will provide an excellent educational opportunity for trainees desiring work at the interface of chemistry and biology. Importantly, the project will integrate students from underrepresented minorities into this area of research. Currently available analysis techniques are unable to provide chemical information at the cellular level, which hampers the development of new and improved therapeutic methods for neurological diseases and cancer. The new miniaturized sensors developed in Prof. Aspinwall's laboratory will enable better understanding of biological processes at the single cell level. In the future they will enable the development of cures for diseases associated with cellular abnormalities.