BACKGROUND Acute lung injury (ALI) and nosocomial pneumonia are major causes of morbidity and mortality. There are 200,000 cases per year of ALI in the US with a mortality of 40%. On the intensive care unit (ICU), ALI accounts for over 40% of all ventilated patients at any one time. Despite this huge burden on healthcare and the relatively high prevalence, no therapies currently exist in clinical practice that attenuate the condition. The pathophysiology and aetiology of ALI is multifactorial but neutrophilic influx and consequent damage to the endothelial-epithelial interface are regarded as central features. Alongside neutrophils, peripheral blood monocytes (PBMs) are recruited to the acutely inflamed lung. The role played by PBMs in perpetuating the pathogenic neutrophilic influx remains poorly characterised. Nosocomial pneumonia is also a major problem with drug resistant organisms. With the increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance and the paucity of novel antimicrobials being generated by pharmaceutical companies, there is real concern that the end of the ‘antibiotic era’ may be approaching. AIMS 1) To develop murine models of lung inflammation and infection 2) To establish the role of the PBM in perpetuating the neutrophilic response in ALI 3) To develop non-invasive methodologies to study the trafficking of cells and molecular events within the inflamed lung 4) To apply a novel antimicrobial to prevent and treat nosocomial pneumonia METHODS A murine model of ALI was utilised using direct intratracheal instillation of lipopolysaccharide. To this model 3 different PBM depletion strategies were applied to study the effect on neutrophil recruitment and consequent lung injury. Non invasive optical imaging was utilised to study the effect of PBM depletion on proteolytic events within the murine lung. To understand cellular trafficking, cell labeling strategies were compared for primary murine macrophages with whole body optical imaging in mice. Murine models of Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Burkholderia cepacia were established and a novel antimicrobial agent called the nonalysine like peptoid (NLLP) tested in vitro and in vivo for efficacy. RESULTS PBM depletion significantly attenuated neutrophil recruitment in an established model of ALI. Near infrared (NIR) optical imaging permitted the non invasive tracking of primary murine cells. A non toxic peptidomimetic agent (NLLP) possessed antimicrobial activity against gram positive and gram negative pathogens with therapeutic and prophylactic efficacy in vivo. CONCLUSIONS PBM depletion is a potential therapeutic strategy for treating ALI. Further studies are required to determine the exact mechanism by which PBMs orchestrate neutrophil recruitment. Optical imaging is a versatile platform for molecular imaging. A novel antimicrobial agent termed NLLP has been discovered with therapeutic and prophylactic efficacy against multi-drug resistant pathogens.