Freya Harrison
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friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
Freya Harrison
@friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
3.2K followers 840 following 5.4K posts
Reader (Associate Professor) in Microbiology at the University of Warwick, UK.
Biofilm, chronic infection and ancientbiotics.
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friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
They are sending emails from an official address with the PI’s name on too - it’s a massive data scraping project, not just one PhD: knowledgelab.org/team/ Or possibly a concerted effort to anger as wide a section of academia as possible and study our responses..
January 8, 2026 at 8:42 AM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
Congratulations to the latest new Dr in the house, @microbescience.bsky.social! 🍾
December 11, 2025 at 4:39 PM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
Another new Dr in the house! Massive congratulations to @nreddy.bsky.social 🥳 Thanks to @sebperrier.bsky.social for the continuing teamwork on antimicrobial polymers & excellent PhD students, and to @correlab.bsky.social and @profjamesmason.bsky.social for examining. #MicroSky
Five happy people smiling - four are holding glasses of champagne, and one a coffee mug.
December 8, 2025 at 6:46 PM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
Christ on a bike, this is worse than timewasting, it's downright offensive.
An email. It reads as follows. Dear Author, We are emailing you from Knowledge Lab (https://knowledgelab.org/) at the University of Chicago, led by Prof. James A. Evans. We are studying how AI helps scientists extend their work in new directions. We came across your paper "Sweet and sour synergy: exploring the antibacterial and antibiofilm activity of acetic acid and vinegar combined with medical-grade honeys" and applied custom AI models on it, which generated 5 new extensions. Our pilot study indicates that up to 60% of scientists found the proposed extensions both thought-provoking and actionable. Would you like to see these ideas? They are absolutely free and with no obligations -- although we would sincerely appreciate your thoughts on their quality. You may review these extensions and share your feedback with us at your convenience within the next 7 days. Your contributions will be formally acknowledged in the resulting publication. Click the link below and fill out your thoughts on them: Take the survey Or copy and paste the URL below into your internet browser: https://uchicago.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1yPc7XXPRcCh6Xs?Q_DL=U11HdOvG3TSWmcN_1yPc7XXPRcCh6Xs_CGC_uCvOlDC99eFZgjk&Q_CHL=email Follow the link to opt out of future emails: Click here to unsubscribe We sincerely appreciate your feedback. Warm regards, Knowledge Lab & Data Science Institute University of Chicago
December 1, 2025 at 6:55 PM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
Lottie hasn’t got the message about antibiotic stewardship, & is resisting completion of her co-amoxiclav course. The pink stains are from an attempt to smear it on her, in the hope she‘d lick it all off. Our vet, OTOH, was super keen to talk about stewardship & her prescribing decision process! 💜
A calico cat loafing on a red sofa. Her eyes are half closed and she looks slightly grumpy. There are pink stains on her white chest fur.
November 30, 2025 at 6:17 PM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
Congratulations to our poster prize winners at @bsacandjac.bsky.social #AntibioticResistance & Mechanisms meeting 🎉 #MicroSky
November 28, 2025 at 8:43 PM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
I had a little time to work on this illustration over the weekend. Disapproving expressions now added! It’s been fun to attempt a direct copy, and the owner has enjoyed the progress pics. It’ll be part of his display on maille making.
On the left is a print of a medieval illustration showing two men pointing at a third man taking off a maille hauberk. On the right is an almost-finished copy.
November 24, 2025 at 12:26 PM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
Here’s @tosinorababa.bsky.social & @nreddy.bsky.social showing the ways we grow bacteria in the lab to simulate conditions in an infected patient - we have models of #CysticFibrosis lung, endotracheal tube & chronic wound, all compliant with efforts to reduce & replace animals in research.
A man and a woman standing behind a table. On the table is a microscope showing an image of biofilm-infected tissue, a robotic ventilator and various items of lab equipment.
November 19, 2025 at 7:39 PM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
In a very interesting talk about training dogs to sniff out infection - including Pseudomonas aeruginosa in #CysticFibrosis Here’s a study link, from medicaldetectiondogs.org.uk with @janedaviescf.bsky.social & colleagues publications.ersnet.org/content/erj/5
November 19, 2025 at 4:15 PM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
Working on a commission a friend - the historically accurate method for removing maille, from the 13th century Maciejowski Bible (Morgan Library & Museum MS M.638, fol. 28r). Authent-ish illumination strategy with gouache on vellum. #illumination #medieval
On the left is a print of an image from the original manuscript, with test splashes of paint and notes on pigments around it. On the right is is a partially-completed copy.
November 16, 2025 at 3:26 PM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
#PhDone! Congratulations to Dr @tosinorababa.bsky.social, who passed his viva today 🎉
A group of people at a restaurant table
November 13, 2025 at 6:36 PM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
On Sunday, Wantage will celebrate its most legendary figure – King Alfred the Great. I'll be there with plenty of other nerds, displaying the history and material culture of Wessex in Alfred's time. Full info at wantagetowncouncil.gov.uk/alfredfest-2...
October 21, 2025 at 3:16 PM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
@aaroncurtismicro.bsky.social adapted our ex-vivo pig lung infection model to conduct dual host-pathogen proteomics in response to Aspergillus infection - he’s a finalist in @microbiologysociety.org young microbiologist of the year #MicroSky www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/...
A man in front of a display screen, showing images of Aspergillus growing on sections of lung tissue.
October 7, 2025 at 3:23 PM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
We are ready for Caturday.
A close-up of two sleepy cats, resting their heads together.
September 26, 2025 at 9:16 PM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
When your PhD student sends you a request for help with an error message and you get a sneak preview of a very nice biofilm they've grown 💜 @c-cornbill.bsky.social #MicroSky
A computer screen showing light microscope image acquisition software. There is a Gram-stained tissue section on the screen, with a dense bacterial biofilm on one surface. It is partly covered by an error message.
September 25, 2025 at 3:31 PM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
Another paper from @microberamon.bsky.social's PhD 🦠 Two structural variants of an AMP-inspired antimicrobial polymer have different effects on P. aeruginosa. One kills with a bang, the other with a whimper pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/... #MicroSky @sebperrier.bsky.social @alexiahapeshi.bsky.social
A cartoon showing a Gram-negative bacterium exposed to two variants of a polymer. A triblock structure causes formation of multiple small pores in the outer membrane. A diblock structure causes large pores in both outer and inner membranes, and cell lysis.
September 23, 2025 at 2:00 PM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
Can’t stop feeling for this terrrified little guy 💜 (Source: www.cell.com/trends/immun...)
A diagram of cell viral infection pathways. Two intracellular viral particle and an organelle give one infected cell the appearance of a screaming face.
September 5, 2025 at 5:23 PM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
Superb posters from life & health sciences @suttontrust.bsky.social summer school students on their week's work. A pleasure to work with such a bright, motivated and chatty group! #SciComm Thanks to our teaching lab team @warwicklifesci.bsky.social & my co-lead Anthony Lyons @warwickmed.bsky.social
Four hand-made posters on a wall. Two are about cystic fibrosis, one is about Duchenne muscular dystrophy and one about diagnosis of genetic diseases.
August 1, 2025 at 10:16 AM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
You know it’s been a great party when the host sends you home with badger bones.
A badger cranium, three jaw bones and assorted loose teeth.
July 26, 2025 at 6:09 PM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
I found the most beautiful shieldbug in the garden yesterday! Opulent purple and gold, accessorised with bold stripes. Apparently it’s a hairy shieldbug.
A shieldbug on a blue cornflower. The bug is a dusty purple colour, and its “shield” is a shiny gold colour. Its antennae have horizontal black and white stripes.
July 17, 2025 at 7:28 AM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
Aaron used cell culture medium in this first experiment, as we wanted to see what was possible re: keeping the host tissue alive. The next big step will be seeing what happens with synthetic CF mucus#MicroSky Image: PCA & clustering of pig proteins at 24-96h pi
The PCA shows clear separation of clusters from infected and uninfected tissue, and a change in proteome over time.
July 16, 2025 at 8:55 AM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
The bull is my favourite part of this carpet page, he ended up looking so cute. Red ochre ink sketching, with egg tempera / glair mineral paints.
July 15, 2025 at 2:00 PM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
The team is killing it at the Warwick Open Research Awards - first and second place in the STEM category to me and @phoebesilva.bsky.social for our open approach work using the ex vivo pig lung model of #CysticFibrosis infection @warwicklifesci.bsky.social #MicroSky
Two women holding certificates and smiling.
July 14, 2025 at 4:59 PM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
@jmarkwelch.bsky.social showing one of the most visually and scientifically beautiful images in microbiology: a microbiome “hedgehog” in dental plaque
(Just made it to KCL #Biofilm hub symposium in time to hear this talk 😮) #MicroSky
June 25, 2025 at 11:55 AM
friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
Yesterday, Warwick held a public festival of arts & culture. @tosinorababa.bsky.social, Erin Connelly and I had an excellent day talking about historical medicine, alchemy and the modern-day science we’re doing as part of the #Ancientbiotics collaboration. #SciComm
On the left is a table covered with plants, books and other items used in medieval medicine. On the right is a lifesize cardboard cutout of a medieval woman. A woman stands behind a table, with books and materials related to medieval writing and alchemy. A man stands in front of boards displaying research posters.
June 1, 2025 at 9:15 AM