Jan Karlseder obtained his PhD from the University of Vienna, Austria, where he studied the cell cycle regulation of transcription. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Rockefeller University, NY, where he investigated mechanisms of telomere length regulation and protection. In 2002 he established his laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, where he studies the links between DNA damage signalling and repair, telomere dynamics, inflammation and cancer formation.
He was promoted to the Donald and Darlene Shiley Chair Professor in 2011 and is currently the Director of the Glenn Center for Research on Aging. Dr. Karlseder was named Chief Science Officer and Vice President of the Salk Institute in 2024, and in this role directs all scientific planning and development of the institute.