Freya Harrison
@friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
Reader (Associate Professor) in Microbiology at the University of Warwick, UK.
Biofilm, chronic infection and ancientbiotics.
https://www.youtube.com/@BreakingBiofilm
Biofilm, chronic infection and ancientbiotics.
https://www.youtube.com/@BreakingBiofilm
Pinned
Microbial Primer: Ancientbiotics – making modern antimicrobials from historical infection remedies
The modern antibiotic era began in the early twentieth century, but humans have long used materials from the natural world to attempt to treat the symptoms of infection. In this primer, we will discus...
www.microbiologyresearch.org
Why should microbiologists be interested in historical infection remedies, and how can we best investigate them for antimicrobial discovery? Thoroughly enjoyed co-writing this Microbiology Primer with @tosinorababa.bsky.social www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour... #MicroSky #Ancientbiotics
Reposted by Freya Harrison
Reposted by Freya Harrison
The Open Visualization Academy (OVA) IS LIVE!
openvisualizationacademy.org
Thread follows #dataViz #infographics #dataJournalism #dataVisualization
openvisualizationacademy.org
Thread follows #dataViz #infographics #dataJournalism #dataVisualization
January 30, 2026 at 3:09 PM
The Open Visualization Academy (OVA) IS LIVE!
openvisualizationacademy.org
Thread follows #dataViz #infographics #dataJournalism #dataVisualization
openvisualizationacademy.org
Thread follows #dataViz #infographics #dataJournalism #dataVisualization
Reposted by Freya Harrison
New round of PhD studentships in microbial engineering, including one with me on engineering non-canonical DNA mismatch repair into E. coli 🦠🧬
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
February 6, 2026 at 6:50 PM
New round of PhD studentships in microbial engineering, including one with me on engineering non-canonical DNA mismatch repair into E. coli 🦠🧬
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Reposted by Freya Harrison
We're Hiring! We're looking for a postdoc with bioinformatics/modelling skills to join us in an exciting microbiome ecology project in Manchester (deadline 1st March) www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...
'Research Associate in Microbiome Ecology:Manchester
We wish to appoint a PostDoctoral Research Associate to an exciting project exploring the assembly, stability and function of microbial decomposer communities.
www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk
February 2, 2026 at 4:16 PM
We're Hiring! We're looking for a postdoc with bioinformatics/modelling skills to join us in an exciting microbiome ecology project in Manchester (deadline 1st March) www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...
Storming research seminar from Alexiane Decout for @warwicklifesci.bsky.social @warwickmed.bsky.social women's health group: the Lactobacillus crispatus S-layer & vaginal/reproductive health. Immune modulation www.nature.com/articles/s41... & HSV protection europepmc.org/article/ppr/... #MicroSky
February 5, 2026 at 2:25 PM
Storming research seminar from Alexiane Decout for @warwicklifesci.bsky.social @warwickmed.bsky.social women's health group: the Lactobacillus crispatus S-layer & vaginal/reproductive health. Immune modulation www.nature.com/articles/s41... & HSV protection europepmc.org/article/ppr/... #MicroSky
I can vouch for @dralhubb.bsky.social being a great person to collaborate with!
February 4, 2026 at 2:46 PM
I can vouch for @dralhubb.bsky.social being a great person to collaborate with!
Reposted by Freya Harrison
Useful @sciencecampaign.bsky.social @drrathbone.bsky.social blog making sense of what we know about @ukri.org funding after today’s Select Committee hearing
www.sciencecampaign.org.uk/analysis-and...
www.sciencecampaign.org.uk/analysis-and...
What is happening with UKRI funding and the STFC cuts? - CaSE
In recent days there have been a number of reports about cuts to UKRI budgets and grant funding pauses. Here we summarise events so far, and set out why we believe UKRI should explain how and why deci...
www.sciencecampaign.org.uk
February 3, 2026 at 10:13 PM
Useful @sciencecampaign.bsky.social @drrathbone.bsky.social blog making sense of what we know about @ukri.org funding after today’s Select Committee hearing
www.sciencecampaign.org.uk/analysis-and...
www.sciencecampaign.org.uk/analysis-and...
Reposted by Freya Harrison
Come and join our editorial team
Microbiology is seeking Editors to help ensure the publication of high-quality research and to foster engagement across the microbiology community.
Expertise in biotechnology, regulation, sensing, signalling or AMR is especially welcome.
🗓️ Apply by 16 February: https://microb.io/4qKdgJ6
Expertise in biotechnology, regulation, sensing, signalling or AMR is especially welcome.
🗓️ Apply by 16 February: https://microb.io/4qKdgJ6
<i>Microbiology</i> Editors: Call for expressions of interest
microb.io
January 29, 2026 at 12:56 PM
Come and join our editorial team
Reposted by Freya Harrison
Excited to share our preprint that describes the mechanism of action of an historical infection remedy called Bald’s Eyesalve. In this preprint, we show that Bald’s Eyesalve has multifaceted mechanism of action against both S. aureus and A. baumannii (1/n).
February 3, 2026 at 10:25 AM
Excited to share our preprint that describes the mechanism of action of an historical infection remedy called Bald’s Eyesalve. In this preprint, we show that Bald’s Eyesalve has multifaceted mechanism of action against both S. aureus and A. baumannii (1/n).
Remember the medieval remedy we reconstructed years ago? We've now dissected the various ways it attacks and kills bacteria! Preprinted & submitted, led by @tosinorababa.bsky.social & Jess Furner-Pardoe w/ many collaborators #MicroSky #Ancientbiotics www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
February 3, 2026 at 9:58 AM
Remember the medieval remedy we reconstructed years ago? We've now dissected the various ways it attacks and kills bacteria! Preprinted & submitted, led by @tosinorababa.bsky.social & Jess Furner-Pardoe w/ many collaborators #MicroSky #Ancientbiotics www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Freya Harrison
I know what they're getting at with the "could put jobs at risk" but can we focus on the immediate impact? Each suspended round at MRC and BBSRC means about 80 fewer postdoc jobs and the retrospective cuts at MRC add another 30 or so
Next, @isaacbarbosa1.bsky.social writes that researchers have warned that changes to applicant-led funding opportunities at the MRC and the BBSRC are hitting morale and could put jobs at risk.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...
MRC and BBSRC grant uncertainty ‘deeply demoralising’ - Research Professional News
Researchers fear job losses, more bid competition and greater pain for smaller universities
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
February 2, 2026 at 5:27 PM
I know what they're getting at with the "could put jobs at risk" but can we focus on the immediate impact? Each suspended round at MRC and BBSRC means about 80 fewer postdoc jobs and the retrospective cuts at MRC add another 30 or so
Currently, we’re all in the dark (and this is UKRI wide). Uni research development officers and board members initially found out via the researchprofessional article and any info has been word-of-mouth. @whippletom.bsky.social @peaseroland.bsky.social is this on your radar?
Has the MRC research funding ‘pause’ been covered by any major news network?
It feels like it should be a major news story
It feels like it should be a major news story
January 31, 2026 at 9:57 AM
Currently, we’re all in the dark (and this is UKRI wide). Uni research development officers and board members initially found out via the researchprofessional article and any info has been word-of-mouth. @whippletom.bsky.social @peaseroland.bsky.social is this on your radar?
A pleasure to be involved with @schluk.bsky.social’s PhD research - he’s explored the interactions between longitudinal isolates of three key pathogens from children with #CysticFibrosis #MicroSky @phoebesilva.bsky.social
Our first study on clinical isolates: genetic, phenotypic and behavioural patterns among P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, and H. influenzae from children with CF @schluk.bsky.social @friendlymicrobe.bsky.social @serenaprovveduto.bsky.social Markus Hilty Philipp Latzin etal
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org
January 31, 2026 at 9:43 AM
A pleasure to be involved with @schluk.bsky.social’s PhD research - he’s explored the interactions between longitudinal isolates of three key pathogens from children with #CysticFibrosis #MicroSky @phoebesilva.bsky.social
Reposted by Freya Harrison
Less than one week to apply to this 2.5 yr PDRA!
If you're passionate about biophysics #AFM #Microscopy applied to bacteria and #antimicrobial research this will be a great opportunity in the beautiful city of Sheffield. 😀
jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Research...
If you're passionate about biophysics #AFM #Microscopy applied to bacteria and #antimicrobial research this will be a great opportunity in the beautiful city of Sheffield. 😀
jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Research...
Research Associate: Quantitative Microbiology
Research Associate: Quantitative Microbiology
jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk
January 30, 2026 at 6:22 PM
Less than one week to apply to this 2.5 yr PDRA!
If you're passionate about biophysics #AFM #Microscopy applied to bacteria and #antimicrobial research this will be a great opportunity in the beautiful city of Sheffield. 😀
jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Research...
If you're passionate about biophysics #AFM #Microscopy applied to bacteria and #antimicrobial research this will be a great opportunity in the beautiful city of Sheffield. 😀
jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Research...
Reposted by Freya Harrison
What's the best way now to advertise PhD projects to potential students? Twitter used to be great but not now for obvious reasons and BlueSky seems too curated to have that research to prospective students
#MicroSky
#MicroSky
January 29, 2026 at 10:45 AM
What's the best way now to advertise PhD projects to potential students? Twitter used to be great but not now for obvious reasons and BlueSky seems too curated to have that research to prospective students
#MicroSky
#MicroSky
Why should microbiologists be interested in historical infection remedies, and how can we best investigate them for antimicrobial discovery? Thoroughly enjoyed co-writing this Microbiology Primer with @tosinorababa.bsky.social www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour... #MicroSky #Ancientbiotics
Microbial Primer: Ancientbiotics – making modern antimicrobials from historical infection remedies
The modern antibiotic era began in the early twentieth century, but humans have long used materials from the natural world to attempt to treat the symptoms of infection. In this primer, we will discus...
www.microbiologyresearch.org
January 29, 2026 at 10:44 AM
Why should microbiologists be interested in historical infection remedies, and how can we best investigate them for antimicrobial discovery? Thoroughly enjoyed co-writing this Microbiology Primer with @tosinorababa.bsky.social www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour... #MicroSky #Ancientbiotics
Reposted by Freya Harrison
By end of Feb @bsky.app will be the 2nd largest social media source for research sharing in our database
- Google+ managed 945,000 mentions of research during its life
- Facebook pages (not people's profiles) have shared papers 6.6m times
- Reddit = 600k
Bluesky is currently at 6m and climbing
- Google+ managed 945,000 mentions of research during its life
- Facebook pages (not people's profiles) have shared papers 6.6m times
- Reddit = 600k
Bluesky is currently at 6m and climbing
January 28, 2026 at 10:23 AM
By end of Feb @bsky.app will be the 2nd largest social media source for research sharing in our database
- Google+ managed 945,000 mentions of research during its life
- Facebook pages (not people's profiles) have shared papers 6.6m times
- Reddit = 600k
Bluesky is currently at 6m and climbing
- Google+ managed 945,000 mentions of research during its life
- Facebook pages (not people's profiles) have shared papers 6.6m times
- Reddit = 600k
Bluesky is currently at 6m and climbing
Reposted by Freya Harrison
Thanks to Dr. Cassandra Quave for hosting me on her Foodie Pharmacology podcast!
We discussed the molecules responsible for the properties of medicinal plants - and how my lab studies the chemistry that plants use to make them. Check it out!
t.co/nEdpoyN8QD
We discussed the molecules responsible for the properties of medicinal plants - and how my lab studies the chemistry that plants use to make them. Check it out!
t.co/nEdpoyN8QD
September 15, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Thanks to Dr. Cassandra Quave for hosting me on her Foodie Pharmacology podcast!
We discussed the molecules responsible for the properties of medicinal plants - and how my lab studies the chemistry that plants use to make them. Check it out!
t.co/nEdpoyN8QD
We discussed the molecules responsible for the properties of medicinal plants - and how my lab studies the chemistry that plants use to make them. Check it out!
t.co/nEdpoyN8QD
“The new rule may someday be that there are no strict anaerobes; it's just a matter of how sensitive our methods are in detecting low oxygen concentrations.” #MicroSky
January 27, 2026 at 7:44 PM
“The new rule may someday be that there are no strict anaerobes; it's just a matter of how sensitive our methods are in detecting low oxygen concentrations.” #MicroSky
I just spent a very enjoyable hour talking to the awesome ethnobotanist Cassandra Quave for her podcast, Foodie Pharmacology - if you’re not already subscribed, check it out for fascinating food science, botany and microbiology content foodiepharmacology.com #MicroSky #SciComm
Foodie Pharmacology – The science podcast for the food curious
foodiepharmacology.com
January 27, 2026 at 7:42 PM
I just spent a very enjoyable hour talking to the awesome ethnobotanist Cassandra Quave for her podcast, Foodie Pharmacology - if you’re not already subscribed, check it out for fascinating food science, botany and microbiology content foodiepharmacology.com #MicroSky #SciComm
This is a very cool study! P. melanogenica was assumed to be a strict anaerobe because it doesn’t tolerate atmospheric O2 levels - but no-one had looked at how it responded to concentrations >0 but <21, until now. #MicroSky
Just when we think we've got them figured out, bacteria find a way to surprise us. For a century we've been calling Prevotella melaninogenica a strict anaerobe (oxygen =☠️), but its been chillin' in oxygen rich parts of the body -- the respiratory tract 👄🫁. A thread on a new preprint from my lab🧵:
Aerotolerant Capacity of the Lung Commensal Prevotella melaninogenica https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.19.700327v1
January 25, 2026 at 7:55 PM
This is a very cool study! P. melanogenica was assumed to be a strict anaerobe because it doesn’t tolerate atmospheric O2 levels - but no-one had looked at how it responded to concentrations >0 but <21, until now. #MicroSky
Lots of PhD opportunities for UK + international students involving my lab. Topics relate to metals & microbiology.
First up: TonB-dependent receptors in commensal Neisseria in my lab at Durham, with @kjosts.bsky.social and @mattbashton.bsky.social.
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
First up: TonB-dependent receptors in commensal Neisseria in my lab at Durham, with @kjosts.bsky.social and @mattbashton.bsky.social.
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Nutrient uptake in commensal bacteria: exploring uncharacterised TonB-dependent transporters. at Newcastle University on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - Nutrient uptake in commensal bacteria: exploring uncharacterised TonB-dependent transporters. at Newcastle University, listed on FindAPhD.com
www.findaphd.com
January 25, 2026 at 7:47 PM
Super PhD opportunity!
🚨 Fully‑funded PhD for Home Students🚨
We'll explore non-antibiotic alternatives in relatistic environments, uncovering how they work, if they affect antibiotic activity and whether they influcence AMR acquistion. Come join a wonderful supervisory team!
#MicroSky #UTISky #AMar
tinyurl.com/38u552bu
We'll explore non-antibiotic alternatives in relatistic environments, uncovering how they work, if they affect antibiotic activity and whether they influcence AMR acquistion. Come join a wonderful supervisory team!
#MicroSky #UTISky #AMar
tinyurl.com/38u552bu
Optimising the use of alternative therapies for the treatment of urinary infections - The University of Nottingham
tinyurl.com
January 21, 2026 at 9:18 PM
Super PhD opportunity!
Reposted by Freya Harrison
Yesterday it was cows using tools, today its penguins using satellite imagery.
January 20, 2026 at 6:44 PM
Yesterday it was cows using tools, today its penguins using satellite imagery.
What does the latest UK Public Attitude to Science survey say? blog.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/britains-sci...
Seven in 10 Britons agree that science is such a big part of our lives that we should all take an interest.
Access to scientific information has exploded.
Yet engagement has not translated into confidence: the proportion who feel genuinely informed about science has fallen from 51% to just 43%...
Access to scientific information has exploded.
Yet engagement has not translated into confidence: the proportion who feel genuinely informed about science has fallen from 51% to just 43%...
January 20, 2026 at 8:39 AM
What does the latest UK Public Attitude to Science survey say? blog.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/britains-sci...