Roberts is a  inventor or co-inventor on over 100 issued patents. He has received the E.B. Hershberg award and induction into the MEDI Hall of Fame in 2021. He has also been involved in the commercialization of some of his research, contributing to the establishment of biotech companies such as Receptos Pharmaceuticals and BlackThorn Pharmaceuticals. He is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Royal Society of Medicine, and the Medicinal Chemistry division of the American Chemical Society.