Major new study to speed up medicine development has received much needed funding.

The research, lead by Tatiana Rogova, a PhD student at University of Oxford, aims to produce a molecule at the heart of important medical treatments quicker which could potentially help patients undergoing cancer-fighting treatments.

She is working alongside the science-led global healthcare company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

Traditional methods of creating this molecule – tertiary amines – can be harmful to the environment and also difficult to produce in large quantities.

However, Ms Rogova hopes to develop a new synthetic chemical tool that uses light to develop it faster.

The technique, similar to photosynthesis, will streamline the growth of tertiary amines at an industrial scale, helping pharmaceutical companies to make the dependant medicines.

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This method had been a subject of academic studies for several years, which is why the Royal Commission of the Exhibition of 1851 awarded Ms Rogova's study with £80,000.

The educational trust awards about 35 postgraduate fellowships and scholarships every year,for advanced study and research in science, engineering, the built environment and design.

The organisation was established in 1850 by Her Majesty Queen Victoria, with Prince Albert appointed as its president.

Ms Rogova plans to execute the project through close collaboration between GSK and a number of academic and commercial partners.

She obtained her Hons. BSc. in Chemistry at the University of Toronto before starting her DPhil in Synthesis for Biology and Medicine in the University of Oxford.

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The student said: "The fellowship provides a little bit of everything in terms of support.

“In general it has helped me do more – more travel, more networking, and more time spent at GSK.”

The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 currently have an ongoing call for applications for the UK's brightest researchers.

This is part of their of their £2m annual Industrial Fellowships drive aimed at advancing British industries and allowing companies to conduct innovative research.

Bernard Taylor, Chairman of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, said: “Supporting British innovation is more important than ever before.

These Industrial Fellowships provide an opportunity for British businesses to conduct cutting-edge R&D and develop intellectual property at reduced cost."

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Other fellows this year include Robert Rouse, who is working on predicting flooding effects with AI; Elisabeth Pickles, who is working to improve liver cancer diagnoses through new MRI technique; and Veronica Glynn, who is working on fighting cancer with a patient's own cells.

Mr Taylor described them as 'the brightest minds in fields spanning artificial intelligence and gene editing, and exciting potential treatments for cancer'.

He added: "These promising young researchers represent the huge diversity of talent in science and engineering that Britain has to offer.”

The educational trust also boasts with 13 fellows who went on to win the Nobel Prize for chemistry, physics and medicine.

Applications for the 2020 industrial fellowships are now open until February 6.

To learn more about the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, visit www.royalcommission1851.org/awards.