Ian Caterson is currently Foundation Director of the Boden Institute of Obesity Nutrition & Exercise and Boden Professor of Human Nutrition at the University of Sydney. He has held the latter position since 1997.  He was also head of the School of Molecular & Microbial Biosciences at the University. Prior to that he was Senior Staff Specialist and Director of Clinical Endocrinology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. He graduated in Medicine with First Class Honours from the University of Sydney and holds the degrees of BSc(Med) with First Class Honours and Doctor of Philosophy from that University.

 He worked as a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Oxford with Prof Sir Philip Randle FRS and held an NH&MRC Applied Health Science Fellowship.

His research interests have been in insulin resistance and the causes, prevention and treatment of obesity. He has over 220 publications in scientific journals and books.

He is a past president of both the Australian Diabetes Society and the Australasian Society for the Study of Obesity & was regional vice-president (Asia-Oceania) for the International Association for the Study of Obesity.

He is a recognised expert on obesity, the Metabolic Syndrome and insulin resistance. He was a member of the NH&MRC working party on the prevention of overweight and obesity and chaired the National Obesity Prevention Group for the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care.  He is on the management committee of the International Obesity Task Force and has been a regional advisor on Obesity for WHO. He is an advisor to the Australian Government on diabetes.