Professor Shahidul Islam: a leader in diabetes research and UKZN Fellow
Internationally-renowned diabetes expert Professor Shahidul Islam is among UKZN's newest cohort of Fellows for his contributions to diabetes research and commitment to finding sustainable, natural treatments for one of the most pressing global public health challenges.
The Fellowship of UKZN is awarded to professors and senior professors in recognition of distinguished academic achievement and the production of high-quality, original and creative scholarly work.
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 and underlying molecular mechanisms, with the goal of developing improved food supplements and alternative antidiabetic drugs for more effective disease management.
The nature of his work, which has applications worldwide, has attracted collaboration from countries, including the USA, Australia, China, Switzerland, India, Japan, Nigeria and Tanzania.
'I would like to thank the university for recognising me as a Fellow for my contributions over the last 16 years. I feel honoured and privileged to receive one of its highest honours,' said Islam.
'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 their 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.
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