As a group leader at the Gene Center in Munich from 2003-2005, she taught Biochemistry and Cell Biology and led a lab in the study of asymmetric cell division of Drosophila neural stem cells. She joined the Department of Neurosurgery in 2005 as an Associate Researcher and accepted an Assistant Professor position in 2009. A leader in the field of cancer cell biology, Claudia has made seminal contributions to the fields of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, glioma cells-of-origin, and tumor heterogeneity. She has received multiple awards, including the Bavarian-California Technology Award and the UCSF Brain Tumor SPORE, Career Development Research Award.