Laboratory development of near-infrared fluorescence imaging and tomography for medical applications have been underway for some time. The technology is similar to nuclear medicine approaches in that photons which arise from the decay of a contrast agent administered in trace doses are detected to create an image or tomogram. NIRF imaging differs from conventional nuclear imaging technologies in that it requires the use of tissue penetrating, low energy excitation light to repeatedly activate NIRF contrast agents to acquire multiply scattered fluorescent light. Instrumentation, image reconstruction and imaging agents are dramatically different that in nuclear modalities, but potentially offer new opportunities to interrogate human disease that are not possible with any other imaging modalities. As an example, this presentation will describe translational NIRF imaging that enabled the first real-time visualization of lymphatic function in health and disease in over 200 human subjects. Emerging opportunities will be briefly discussed. Eva M. Sevick-Muraca earned her bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Pittsburgh and her doctoral degree at Carnegie Mellon University. She has served on the faculties at Vanderbilt University, Purdue University, Texas A&M University and the Baylor College of Medicine, and she has received the National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award and the National Institutes of Health Research Career Award. In 1998, Sevick was elected a fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering.