Claudia Zielke

Claudia Zielke is an analytical chemist with expertise in separation sciences and light scattering techniques. In 2017 she received her Ph.D. from the Department of Food Technology, Engineering and Nutrition from Lunds University in Sweden, specializing in asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation with multi-detection for the analysis of macromolecules. After her appointment as Inclusive Excellence Postdoctoral Fellow at Santa Clara University, CA, USA, she joined the Barron Lab for Innate Immune Optimization at the School of Medicine, Bioengineering at Stanford University, CA, USA. Currently, Zielke is a Research Scientist at Vaxcyte, a biopharmaceutical company in San Carlos, CA, developing novel polysaccharide and protein conjugate vaccines. She is also the Senior Managing Editor of Chromatographia, An International Journal for Separation Science by Springer Nature.

She has 14 years of experience with FFF and other flow-based separation techniques.

Articles by Claudia Zielke

Dynamic particle waves flowing through a cyber grid, neon hologram effects with deep purples and blues for a futuristic technology vibe | Image Credit: © afrah - stock.adobe.com.

A Future Perspective from the Young Scientists of FFF: Field-Flow Fractionation as an Essential Tool in Emerging Scientific Infrastructure

ByClaudia Zielke,Alina Astefanei,Valentina Marassi,Armando Sánchez-Cachero,Susanne Boye

March 18th 2026

Field-flow fractionation (FFF), and, in particular, asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation (AF4), is transitioning from a specialized separation technique into an application-driven analytical platform. From the perspective of the Young Scientists of FFF, we describe how advances in inline detection, data analysis, and validation are expanding AF4’s capacity to deliver size-resolved structural and compositional insights into complex systems. We highlight how this evolution enables more reliable characterization of heterogeneous and dynamically assembled materials across disciplines. We argue that realizing this potential will require deliberate choices (by the community, instrument developers, and end users) to move AF4 from niche expert knowledge to broadly trusted analytical practice.