YorRobots Exhibition: Molecules made by robots

Description

Scientists are dependent on lead chemical compounds with precise ‘drugable’ properties. Chemical synthesis of a new drug target often requires many reaction steps. A key problem is in optimising each chemical reaction, which is a labour-intensive and time-consuming process. It is common to dedicate six months to one reaction step, creating a drug development bottleneck, arising from the way that chemical reactions are optimised. This inefficient work pattern operates in chemical synthesis laboratories the world over. Using a combination of robotics, statistical analysis and machine learning it is possible to greatly improve the chemical synthesis of drug targets. I will introduce new approaches used in our research programmes in my talk. Improving reaction efficiency, sustainability and safety are key drivers for the use of robotic systems in chemical synthesis.

Period	28 Feb 2020
Held at	Computer Science
Degree of Recognition	National