• The first ever Saudi woman, in respect of all subjects and specialties, to:
• Obtain Bachelor and Ph.D. degrees
• Become a full professor
• The first Professor of Pharmacology among all Saudi men and women
• In 1996, assigned as WHO Regional Adviser in Drug Programme (EMRO)
• In the year 2000, the first woman from the Muslim and Arab world among the 32 distinguished women scientists around the world who were shortlisted for the HR/L’Oreal/UNESCO “Women in Science Award”

Her researches focus on phamacogenetic/ pharmacokinetic and phenotyping which defined the Saudi population profile in pathways of some drug Metabolism, that became the reference in literature. Accordingly, in 1983 she became the first professor in Pharmacology.

She founded the Drug Monitoring Unit (DMU) from her research funds thus providing research facilities for researchers and analytical service to inform the treating doctors the drug blood levels and accordingly adjust the accurate dose for safety of individual patients (smart medication).

Prof. Islam published 133 research articles, 40 in refereed specialized Journals, 54 presentations at national and international scientific conferences & WHO meetings and 39 society related presentations, focusing on Drug Efficacy mainly in the fields of Drug Safety, Adverse Drug Reaction & Addiction, Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, Pharmacokinetics and Saudi Women empowerment.