SHAHIDUL ISLAM, PHD
Keynote Speaker
Associate Professor
University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Md. Shahidul Islam has completed his BSc honors and MSc degrees in Biochemistry from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1997 and 1999, respectively. He has completed his PhD in Nutritional Science from the Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Japan in 2004. He has also completed two Postdoctoral Fellowships on diabetes related nutritional interventions from Seoul National University, South Korea (2005-2006) and North-West University, South Africa (2006-2008). Since November 2008, he has been serving as a full time academic starting as a lecturer followed by senior lecturer and currently as an Associate Professor of Biochemistry in the School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
Dr. Islam’s research focuses the development of novel and alternative animal models of type 2 diabetes and obesity and antidiabetic interventional trials of various medicinal and functional foods, medicinal plant extracts, fractions and isolated pure compound targeting novel drug discovery. He also investigates the molecular and cell signalling mechanisms behind anti-diabetic and anti-obesogenic effects of above-mentioned components by using in vitro, ex-vivo and in vivo techniques, particularly on animal models. His research group has already developed two alternative animal models of type 2 diabetes which are being used around the world.
Dr. Islam is a prolific researcher who has published 7 book chapters, one editorial and more than 80 peer reviewed articles including 7 reviews in the international journals since 2004. He is also serving as a Member of Editorial Board and Lead Guest Editor of a number of international journals including but not limited to Frontiers in Experimental Pharmacology and Drug Discovery, Journal of Diabetes Research, World Journal of Diabetes, Molecules etc.