Dr. von Zglinicki is a founding member of the basic biology research at Newcastle. His principal research interest is in understanding the cellular and molecular signalling pathways connecting DNA damage responses (specifically emanating from dysfunctional telomeres) with mitochondrial function and metabolism, thus causing and maintaining cell senescence, and how these contribute to mammalian ageing. He was the first to discover oxidative stress and resulting DNA damage as a major cause of telomere shortening and to propose telomere length as a biomarker of ageing in humans. Dr. von Zglinicki chaired the 2004 Gordon Research Conference on Biology of Aging. He chaired the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of the Leibniz Institute for Environmental Medicine Dusseldorf (Germany) and is a member of the Mayo Clinic Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging SAB. He is a Trustee of the Seneca Award for Ageing Research of the Industry Club Dusseldorf and serves on the editorial boards of Aging Cell, Aging (Albany) and other journals in the field. In 2017 he received the Lord Cohen of Birkenhead Medal for Services to Gerontology.