**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** PORTABLE, FIELD-DEPLOYABLE, AND AFFORDABLE SENSORS FOR RAPID AND REAL-TIME DETECTION OF FOOD CONTAMINANTS ARE ESSENTIAL TO IMPROVE FOOD SAFETY AND REDUCE FOODBORNE ILLNESS. SENSORS BUILT UPON NANOMATERIALS OFTEN LACK OF SELECTIVITY TO ANALYZE COMPLEX REAL FOOD SAMPLES. MOLECULARLY IMPRINTED POLYMERS (MIPS), AS SYNTHETIC SUBSTITUTES TO ANTIBODIES, OFFER GREAT SPECIFICITY TO TARGET ANALYTES AND HIGH STABILITY AND SCALABILITYWHILE CUTTING DOWN UP TO 95% COST OF ANTIBODY-BASED BIOSENSORS. INTEGRATING MIPS WITH FUNCTIONAL NANOMATERIALS, MIP-NANOCOMPOSITES-BASED SENSORS HOLD GREAT PROMISE TO ACHIEVE ULTRASENSITIVE AND HIGHLY SELECTIVE DETECTION. THE OVERARCHING GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A FAST AND FACILE FABRICATION PROCEDURE TO CONSTRUCT MIP-NANOCOMPOSITE-BASED ELECTROCHEMICAL SENSORS WHICH CAN BE EASILY ADAPTED TO DETECT MULTIPLE CHEMICAL CONTAMINANTS IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY. MIPS FOR THREE CONTAMINANTS WILL BE FIRST DEVELOPED USING DESIGN OF EXPERIMENTS, AND SILVER NANOSTRUCTURES WILL BE SYSTEMATICALLY INVESTIGATED AND OPTIMIZED TO ENHANCE MIPS' SENSITIVITY. THE FABRICATION PARAMETERS WILL BE APPLIED TO NEW CONTAMINANTS TO DETERMINE THE ADAPTABILITY OF THE IMPRINTING SYSTEM, ENABLING THE FUTURE APPLICATION OF MACHINE-LEARNING GUIDED ON-DEMAND MIPS DESIGN FOR NEW ANALYTES OF INTEREST. THIS PROJECT WILL LEAD TO COST-EFFECTIVE, EASY-TO-MANUFACTURE, AND HIGH-PERFORMANCE SENSORS NOT ONLY FOR PORTABLE FOOD SAFETY ANALYSIS BUT ALSO CAN BE EXTENDED TO OTHER APPLICATIONS SUCH AS WATER QUALITY AND BIOMARKER MONITORING FOR CROP AND ANIMAL HEALTH.