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Analytically Speaking Podcast

Ep. 48: From Fortran to Field Flow Fractionation

Welcome to “Analytically Speaking,” the podcast from LCGC International and Spectroscopy. In this episode, podcast co-hosts Dr. Dwight Stoll and Dr. James Grinias talk with Dr. Mark Schure, who has worked in separation science for over 35 years in both industry and academia. Over a 28-year period, he worked for Digital Equipment Corporation, the Rohm and Haas Company, and the Dow Chemical Company. Since then, he has served as Chief Technology Officer for Kroungold Analytical, and he has been an adjunct professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Delaware for over 20 years. Dr. Schure is a widely recognized expert in separation science who has published more than 110 papers, holds numerous patents, and edited the book Multidimensional Liquid Chromatography. His scientific interests encompass the fundamental separation science of complex molecules, polymers, and colloids, alongside 2D chromatography, retention mechanisms, and field flow fractionation. He has received numerous accolades, including the Eastern Analytical Symposium Award in Separation Science and the Uwe Neue Award from the HPLC conference. In a wide ranging conversation recorded live at the HPLC 2026 conference in Indianapolis following a memorial session for Prof. Peter Carr, we explore Mark’s unique entry into separation science, which benefited from prior experiences building amplifiers and electronics before transitioning to write Fortran software as a consultant for chemists at Northeastern University. We then discuss Mark’s foundational simulation work in field flow fractionation (FFF), including his approaches to modeling Coriolis effects and sedimentation. We also spend some time talking about Mark’s pioneering theoretical contributions to 2D chromatography on topics including sampling rate and detection limits. Finally, Mark shares his perspective on the intense inter-diffusion of information between his modeling group and Pete Carr and Ilja Siepmann at the University of Minnesota, the future of analytical chemistry, the need for improved analytical strategies for complex matrices like exosomes, and the potential for artificial intelligence to help identify unknown compounds in complex mixtures.

Ep. 47: The Other Half of Beer’s Law

Welcome to “Analytically Speaking,” the podcast from LCGC International and Spectroscopy. Here in Episode #47, podcast host Dr. Jerry Workman speaks with Dr. Thomas Mayerhöfer from the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz IPHT) in Jena, Germany, and Friedrich Schiller University Jena, about “the other half” of the Beer–Lambert law: dispersion theory, the concentration law of the refractive index, and refractive-index and complex-valued chemometrics. Dr. Mayerhöfer, who first joined the podcast for Episode #29 on the history and theory of infrared spectroscopy, returns to explain how Beer’s law falls out of dispersion theory as a limiting case, why the refractive index obeys a concentration law of its own that was mainstream physical chemistry before about 1920 (and helped confirm the Kekulé structure of benzene), and how new refractive-index and complex-valued chemometric methods — in combination with PLS — can outperform conventional absorbance-based calibration by up to an order of magnitude.

Ep. 46: Live from Pittcon with Award Winners Bob Pirok and Justin Godinho

In this episode, podcast co-hosts Dr. Dwight Stoll and Dr. James Grinias talk with two recent award winners live from the Pittcon conference in San Antonio, Texas: Dr. Bob Pirok and Dr. Justin Godinho. Dr. Bob Pirok is an Associate Professor at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, where he also completed his Ph.D. under the direction of Professor Peter Schoenmakers. He is an expert in multi-dimensional chromatography and the application of machine learning within the field. At Pittcon we celebrated his receipt of the Emerging Leader in Chromatography Award, presented by LCGC International Magazine. Dr. Justin Godinho is a Senior Principal Scientist at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in Upper Providence, Pennsylvania. He completed his undergraduate work at Davidson College and his Ph.D. under the direction of Professor Jim Jorgenson at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before joining GSK, he worked in the column manufacturing business with Advanced Materials Technology. He is a recognized expert in column technology at both capillary and analytical scales, as well as the analysis of small and biotherapeutic molecules. At this year's conference, he received the Young Investigator in Separation Science Award, sponsored by the ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry. In the conversation, we discuss the recent award sessions for both guests and the evolution of their respective careers. We explore Justin’s transition from fundamental column packing research to biopharmaceutical applications at GSK, touching on the ongoing need for protein-suitable columns, capillary-scale techniques, and the Hydrophobic Subtraction Model column database. We then shift to Bob’s research on automated method development discussed at the meeting. This includes a deep dive into data-driven chromatography, the complexities involved in establishing effective Chromatographic Response Functions (CRFs), and why setting realistic expectations for artificial intelligence and automated method development is critical to avoiding a future "AI winter."

Ep. 42: Did You Look at the Raw Data?

On the latest Analytically Speaking podcast, Dwight Stoll and James Grinias chat with Kelly Hines from the University of Georgia in Athens, USA, about her journey into analytical chemistry—and her work using IMS-MS and chromatography for multi-omics studies at the metabolite level.

Ep. 38: Being prepared isn’t just for Boy Scouts

In this episode of Analytically Speaking, explore the intersection of forensic science and cannabis research with Brent Wilson as he shares insights on analytical chemistry and standards.