Nanoparticle-sensitized photoporation is a physical transfection technology being investigated in the development of cell-based therapies. Dominika Berdecka, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium, describes a recent study evaluating the potential of photoporation with polydopamine nanosensitizers for the transfection of cargo molecules of interest. In this study, photoporation optimization was first performed to identify optimal parameters for the delivery of mRNA to unstimulated T cells. This study demonstrated that the quiescent nature of unstimulated lymphocytes made delivery more challenging, however, effective mRNA delivery was chieved under optimal photoporation parameters. This interview took place at the International Conference on Lymphocyte Engineering (ICLE) 2022.