Overview: The talk focused on the synthesis, characterization and use of a novel contrast agent composed of indocyanine green dye for NIR-I photoacoustic (PA) imaging. The contrast agent can be easily tuned to different sizes without enclosure in nanocarriers, has strong optical absorption and PA signal at 895 nm, can be easily functionalized with different targeting molecules and can be imaged for 120 minutes in vivo. The presentation explained details on the genesis of the idea for building a biocompatible contrast agent and give details on its easy synthesis protocols, touch upon a functionalization scheme for adding targeting molecules and demonstrate its use as a PA contrast in mice using the TriTom small animal imaging system. Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) is a noninvasive imaging modality that relies on absorption of laser light and thermal expansion of biological tissues, which generate ultrasonic waves. These ultrasound waves are then used to reconstitute an image of the tissues with anatomical details and functional information. To increase imaging depth and resolution, PAI requires exogenous molecular contrast agents with high optical absorption in the near infrared (NIR). However, the current repository of NIR dyes that are suitable for PAI is extremely limited. The FDA-approved indocyanine green (ICG) is the only commercially available contrast agent with NIR absorbance that is already used for PAI. However, ICG dyes suffer from poor photostability and high clearance rate. In this webinar, Dr. Shrishti Singh presented a synthesis method for clinically translatable ICG-JA whose mean size can be finely tuned from 200 nm to 1000 nm and that does not require encapsulation in a nanocarrier. The talk will also detail complete characterization of the agent and steps for functionalization with targeting peptides or antibodies. Additionally, the webinar also provided details about the PA properties of the contrast in vitro in different conditions including whole blood, followed by details on the photoacoustic imaging in vivo using the TriTom system. Learning Objectives: Get details on the synthesis of a NIR contrast without the need of a nanocarrier. Learn in detail about what characteristics a contrast agent should possess to qualify as a clinically translatable technology. Become familiar with methods to create a targeted contrast agent.