Ian Ganley, PhD, received his undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of Oxford in 1997. After working at Oxford Glycosciences Ltd. for a year, Ganley moved to the University of Cambridge to complete a PhD program in the laboratory of Dr. Nicholas Ktistakis.

In 2002, he relocated to Stanford University to continue his studies as a postdoctoral researcher working with Professor Suzanne Pfeffer. At Stanford, he studied the role of Rab proteins in intracellular transport. It was during that time that he became interested in autophagy, the process through which the body rids itself of damaged or dysfunctional cells. To further his research on this subject, he then joined the laboratory of Dr. Xuejun Jiang at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

In August 2010, Ganley relocated to the United Kingdom, to assume his current role of programme leader at the University of Dundee, where he continues to study autophagy.