Global diabetes leader joins UKZN fellows

AN internationally renowned diabetes expert has been included among the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s (UKZN) newest cohort of Fellows.

Professor Shahidul Islam was recognised for his contributions to diabetes research and commitment to finding sustainable, natural treatments for one of the most pressing global public health challenges.  Islam has consistently featured in the Global Top 2% Researcher list and is currently ranked as the Top 0.014% Global Researcher in the field of Experimental Diabetes Mellitus by Expertscape.com.

His research focuses on Type 2 diabetes and obesity, with an emphasis on developing innovative therapeutic strategies. He has established novel and alternative animal models to study these conditions and conducts intervention trials using functional and medicinal foods, alternative sweeteners, medicinal plant extracts, and both natural and synthetic pure compounds.

Islam aims to uncover their antidiabetic and anti-obesogenic effects, with the goal of developing improved food supplements and alternative drugs for more effective treatment. The nature of his work, which has applications worldwide, has attracted collaboration from countries including the USA, Australia, China, Switzerland, India, Japan, Nigeria, Tanzania and many more. Islam said he felt "honoured and privileged" to be recognised as a Fellow of UKZN.

“It will inspire me significantly to make even better contributions through research, teaching, administration and community service, not only to the University but also to the people of South Africa. I would like to thank all my colleagues, mentors, postgraduate students and fellows, research collaborators, family and friends for the support in achieving this milestone.”

Islam serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the World Journal of Diabetes and a guest editor for Frontiers in Pharmacology and Frontiers in Chemistry, with editorial duties on Bioresearch Communications and the Food and Nutrition Report. He has been awarded a C1 rating by the National Research Foundation of South Africa, has an h-index of 47, and more than 10 141 citations.

He joined UKZN’s Discipline of Biochemistry in 2008 after completing postdoctoral fellowships at Seoul National University in South Korea and North-West University in South Africa. His more than 20 years of experience since completing his undergraduate, honours and master’s studies in Biochemistry at the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh and his PhD in Nutritional Science at Okayama University in Japan have included work as a research scientist and consultant nutritionist. He has also participated in visiting research fellowships with the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) in Hyderabad, India, and the University of Basel in Switzerland.

Islam received the College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science Distinguished Teachers’ Award in 2015 and was featured among UKZN’s Top 30 Published Researchers in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023. He has also received awards from the International Endocrine Society, Korean Endocrine Society, Japan Diabetes Society, Japanese Society for Surgical Metabolism and Nutrition, National Diabetes Institute Malaysia, the Pacific Science Association, Diabetes Asia, and the International Diabetes Federation.

He has published 15 peer-reviewed book chapters and more than 230 research articles in international peer-reviewed journals, including 15 reviews and many editorials. He has also established a “Biomedical Research Group” at UKZN and successfully supervised the research projects of more than 50 postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows.