Optical technologies have been exploited widely in the analytical chemical analysis of biological samples. While the benefits of optical spectroscopy and microscopy have long been known in the laboratory, over the past quarter century there has been increasing interest in the application of these techniques to intact human tissues. One of the distinct attributes of light is that is provides exquisite chemical specificity by interacting with a number of molecules that are already present in the tissue and thus has the capability to provide insight into functional, morphological and molecular contrast. Our objective is to exploit the wealth of physiological, metabolic, morphological and molecular sources of optical contrast to develop novel strategies that focus on cervical cancer screening and breast cancer diagnostics.