Salamatu Idris Isah was born in 1971 in Nigeria. She holds a PhD in economics from Ahmadu Bello University, Kaduna State, Nigeria. She has been a lecturer at the same university since 2000. Since 2018, she has been on leave of absence to serve as an economic adviser to the Governor in Kaduna State. 

She is a member of the Development Policy Research Network at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria. She served as Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria between 2014-2016.  

As a scholar, she has conducted surveys and research activities in her field of study specialization and has served as a research assistant in many key policy research areas in Nigeria. 

She has twenty years of experience teaching development economics, microeconomics, and macroeconomics at the tertiary level. She  has served as a member of the Economic Advisory Board, Office of Chief Economic Adviser, Vice President Office, and Presidency, Abuja, Nigeria from May 2017 to September 2019. In September 2018, she was appointed Special Adviser on economic and investment matters to the Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai. In September 2020, she was again appointed as  Executive Secretary of the Kaduna State Pension Bureau  by the Governor, Ahmed El Rufai.