Ian completed his undergraduate studies in Medical Laboratory Science at the Queensland University of Technology. Between 1992 and 2015 Ian was a Research Assistant, PhD student and a post-doctoral virology research group leader at the Sir Albert Sakzewski Virus Research Centre, Queensland, Australia.

In 2015 Ian left research and moved to a Supervising Scientist role in virology, detecting and characterizing known, new, newly identified and rare viral threats to public and environmental health. He retains an adjunct Associate Professor affiliation at The University of Queensland.