Automated Intelligent Chemistry

Prof. Kevin Lam received his Ph.D. in Medicinal and Synthetic Organic Chemistry from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. His doctoral work explored the use of electrochemistry and photochemistry as green alternatives to activate organic molecules. This work resulted in the development of a new radical-based deoxygenation reaction (the Lam-Marko reaction).
After his Ph.D., he moved to the University of Vermont (UVM). His research focused on applying analytical/physical electrochemistry alongside spectroscopy to study the complex redox behaviour of organometallic compounds.
Kevin now a Reader (Associate Professor) in Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Greenwich in the U.K. where he continues his interdisciplinary research in the field of synthetic and molecular electrochemistry.

Marwin Segler is a team lead at Microsoft Research AI4Science, working at the intersection of chemistry, drug discovery, and machine learning. Prior, he was Lead Researcher at BenevolentAI (London), and received his PhD in chemistry from the University of Muenster.
Marwin pioneered modern machine learning for molecular design, and chemical synthesis planning. His research interests are in computer-assisted scientific discovery, algorithm development in computational chemistry and AI, and applications in organic synthesis and drug discovery.

Nessa Carson received her MChem degree from Oxford University, before completing an MS in catalysis and organic methodology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She started in industry as a synthetic chemist for AMRI, then moved within the company to run the high-throughput automation facility on behalf of Eli Lilly in Windlesham, working across both the discovery and process chemistry arenas. She then worked in reaction optimization and data management using automation at Pfizer and then Syngenta.
Nessa recently moved to AstraZeneca as Digital Champion in Early Chemical Development, where she focusses on making life easier for chemists and analysts with data management and digital upskilling. She was recently awarded the Salters' Institute Centenary Award for early-career chemists with the potential to make an outstanding long-term contribution to the chemical industry.

Rachel obtained her MChem from University of Bath in 2010, and her PhD on transition metal catalysis with Prof. Igor Larrosa (Queen Mary, University of London) in 2014. Following a postdoctoral position with Prof. Matthew Gaunt (University of Cambridge), she joined Astex Pharmaceuticals’ Sustaining Innovation Postdoctoral program where she established automated synthesis capabilities (HTE and flow) within the company. Currently Rachel is an Associate Director at Astex Pharmaceuticals (UK) and leads Astex’s Synthesis Technology Group which helps to enable synthetic challenges on live drug discovery projects using robotic-enabled high-throughput experimentation (HTE) and modern synthetic techniques like photoredox and flow chemistry.

RAEng Research Chair, Professor of Digital Chemical Manufacturing at University of Leeds. As a Research Chair of the Royal Academy of Engineering I am currently focusing on the development of digital technologies for rapid discovery and development of pharmaceuticals. I am interested in the development of new sustainable processes with focus on continuous flow routes to pharmaceutical and fine chemical products. Our group is based within the Institute of Process Research and Development (IPRD).