An artist and a researcher at SymbioticA - The Centre of Excellence in Biological Arts, School of Anatomy and Human Biology, the University of Western Australia. Ionat together with Oron Catts formed the internationally renowned Tissue Culture and Art Project. She has been an artist in residence in the School of Anatomy Physiology and Human Biology since 1996 and was central to the establishment of SymbioticA in 2000. Ionat is considered a pioneer in the field of biological arts and her research been published widely, exhibited internationally and her artwork has been collected by MoMA New York.
Ionat is this year recipient of the Discovery Australian Reseach Council Award(2012); she has been a fellow in the InStem Institute, NCBS, Bangalore (2010) and a visiting scholar at The Experimental Art Centre, Stanford University (2007) and The Tissue Engineering & Organ Fabrication Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School (2000-2001). She exhibited in places such as the MoMA NY, Mori Museum Tokyo, Ars Electronica, Linz, GOMA Brisbane and more.