Associate Professor Zilm is an academic member of the Adelaide Dental School at the University of Adelaide, Australia. He leads the Translational Research in Oral Health Science research group that investigates the translation of basic research to improve oral health. His research focus is materials science and oral microbial biofilm/microbiomes. He has also developed numerous collaborations which contributes to his multidisciplinary approach to research. He has received research funding from the NHMRC; The Australian Dental Research Foundation and industry (Nakao and Colgate). He received the Innovation in Oral Care award from the International Association for Dental research in 2023.