[2] He married in 1967 and spent a year in Dallas, Texas on a research fellowship with John S. Fordtran [de], before returning to Manchester as a lecturer in gastroenterology starting 1969.

Turnberg made contributions to the understanding of the absorption of electrolytes in the small bowel, gastric secretions, and other areas of gastroenterology.

[2] In 1983 the role of Dean of University of Manchester medical school rotated to Hope, and as senior professor there Turnberg assumed the position.

[2] In 1992, on the resignation of Margaret Turner-Warwick as President of the Royal College of Physicians of London, Turnberg was elected as her successor.

[2] Turnberg holds honorary fellowships from sixteen different UK and overseas colleges and has held many different positions within the medical field.

[8] On 4 May 2000 he was created a Life Peer by Letters Patent, taking the title Baron Turnberg, of Cheadle in the County of Cheshire.

[14] On the unexpected death of his son Daniel in 2007 he established a travelling fellowship that allows medical researchers from the Middle East to visit UK academic institutions.