Dr. von Zglinicki is a founding member of the basic biology branch of the Newcastle Ageing Institute and was its scientific director from 2014 to 2019. His principal research interest is in understanding the cellular and molecular signaling 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. He found that senescent cells induce senescence in bystander cells, which might explain the long-term physiological and pathological consequences of short-term senescence-inducing treatments. He aims to prolong healthy lifespan in mammals and ultimately humans by interventions that selectively ablate senescent cells and/or suppress bystander signaling. In 2017 he received the Lord Cohen of Birkenhead Medal for Services to Gerontology. He published about 300 papers on cell and molecular biology of ageing, resulting in an h-index of 93 (Google Scholar June 2023).