​Professor Ian Bates holds the Chair of Pharmacy Education at the UCL School of Pharmacy as Head of Educational Development and is a Faculty Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. He is currently on secondment to the National Health Service (NHS) in London, as academic lead across the university teaching hospitals and additionally as Professor of Integrated Care Education at Whittington Health NHS Trust. Professor Bates is the Director of Education Development for the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), leading an international team appointed by FIP working in partnership with WHO and UNESCO, with an outreach of over 4 million pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists worldwide. He is Editor-in-Chief of Pharmacy Education, an international research journal hosted by FIP which has been publishing peer reviewed educational research continuously since 2000. He is a Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health, and a Trustee for the European Pharmaceutical Students’ Association. He was awarded Fellowship of the International Pharmaceutical Federation in 2012 in recognition of global leadership in education and workforce.

Professor Bates is the Programme Director for the UCL Joint Foundation School, accredited by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, providing foundation training and workplace education for practitioner development for all NHS pharmacists across the London geography. Additionally, he provides advice on workplace education and workforce development for many domestic and international institutions and agencies. Professor Bates is the Coordinator for the FIP-UNESCO Global UNITWIN Network for Education, a transnational network spanning universities and countries worldwide. He is the independent Advisor for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society on educational matters and policy development. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the UK Clinical Pharmacy Association in recognition of his global leadership in international education development.​