Job Title
Reader
Department
Life Sciences
Phone
024 765 24744
Email
Web Link
Research Interests
I research how bacterial pathogens cause chronic, antibiotic-resistant infections, especially in the long-lived lung infections that affect people with the genetic disorder cystic fibrosis. I am also a founder member of the interdisciplinary AncientBiotics consortium, which seeks to identify, reconstruct and test infection remedies from medieval medical books in the hope of finding new agents to treat antibiotic-resistant infections. You can find out more about my team and our work on our research website.
My lab has developed a high-throughput
ex vivo lung model for studying chronic lung infections. We use pig lung tissue left over from the meat industry, along with growth medium carefully constructed to mimic the chemistry of lung mucus in specific infection contexts. Our model has high clinical validity for the study of chronic bacterial pathogens in cystic fibrosis, and may be flexibly optimised to mimic other conditions. It also has the advantages of being cheap and ethical. We are keen to share it with colleagues from academia and industry who are working to understand and treat chronic lung infections. We also hope that adoption of this model will help to reduce the use of live animals in infection research by providing a 3Rs-compliant alternative.
Biography
2004 - 2007 DPhil, Dept. of Zoology, University of Oxford.
2000 - 2003 BA(Hons) Biological Sciences, University of Oxford
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Member of the Microbiology Society
Member of the Society's Communications Committee from January 2017.
- 'Harrington, Niamh, 'Littler, Jenny, 'Harrison, Freya, 2022. 'Transcriptome analysis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm infection in an ex vivo pig model of the cystic fibrosis lung. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 88 (3)
- 'Harrison, Freya, 'Furner-Pardoe, Jessica, 'Connelly, Erin, 2022. 'An assessment of the evidence for antibacterial activity of stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) extracts. Access Microbiology, 4 (3)
- Sweeney, Esther, Harrington, Niamh, Harley Henriques, Alicia G., Hassan, Marwa M., Crealock-Ashurst, Branagh, Smyth, Alan R., Hurley, Matthew N., Tormo-Mas, María Ángeles, Harrison, Freya, 2021. An ex vivo cystic fibrosis model recapitulates key clinical aspects of chronic Staphylococcus aureus infection. Microbiology, 167 (1)
- Harrington, Niamh, Sweeney, Esther, Alav, Ilyas, Allen, Freya, Moat, John, Harrison, Freya, 2021. Antibiotic efficacy testing in an ex vivo model of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus biofilms in the Cystic Fibrosis lung. Journal of Visualized Experiments
- O'Brien, Thomas James, Hassan, Marwa Mohsen, Harrison, Freya, Welch, Martin, 2021. An in vitro model for the cultivation of polymicrobial biofilms under continuous-flow conditions [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]. F1000Research, 10
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O'Toole, George A., Crabbé, Aurélie, Kümmerli, Rolf, LiPuma, John J., Bomberger, Jennifer M., Davies, Jane C., Limoli, Dominique, Phelan, Vanessa V., Bliska, James B., DePas, William H., Dietrich, Lars E., Hampton, Thomas H., Hunter, Ryan, Khursigara, Cezar M., Price-Whelan, Alexa, Ashare, Alix, Cramer, Robert A., Goldberg, Joanna B., Harrison, Freya, Hogan, Deborah A. et al (Select to open full list), 2021. Model systems to study the chronic, polymicrobial infections in cystic fibrosis : current approaches and exploring future directions. mBio, 12 (5)
- Connelly, Erin, Del Genio, Charo I., Harrison, Freya, Nacy, Carol A., 2020. Data mining a medieval medical text reveals patterns in ingredient choice that reflect biological activity against infectious agents. mBio, 11 (1)
- Hassan, Marwa, Harrington, Niamh, Sweeney, Esther, Harrison, Freya, 2020. Predicting antibiotic-associated virulence of pseudomonas aeruginosa using an ex vivo lung biofilm model. Frontiers in Microbiology, 11
- Anonye, Blessing O., Nweke, Valentine, Furner-Pardoe, Jessica, Gabrilska, Rebecca, Rafiq, Afshan, Ukachukwu, Faith, Bruce, Julie, Lee, Christina, Unnikrishnan, Meera, Rumbaugh, Kendra P., Snyder, Lori A. S., Harrison, Freya, 2020. The safety profile of Bald's eyesalve for the treatment of bacterial infections. Scientific Reports, 10 (1)
- Furner-Pardoe, Jessica, Anonye, Blessing O., Cain, Ricky, Moat, John, Ortori, Catherine A., Lee, Christina, Barrett, David A., Corre, Christophe, Harrison, Freya, 2020. Anti-biofilm efficacy of a medieval treatment for bacterial infection requires the combination of multiple ingredients. Scientific Reports, 10 (1)
- Sweeney, Esther, Sabnis, Akshay, Edwards, Andrew M., Harrison, Freya, 2020. Effect of host-mimicking medium and biofilm growth on the ability of colistin to kill Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Microbiology, 166 (12), pp. 1171-1180
- Harrington, Niamh, Sweeney, Esther, Harrison, Freya, 2020. Building a better biofilm - formation of in vivo-like biofilm structures by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a porcine model of cystic fibrosis lung infection. Biofilm, 2
- Brockhurst, Michael A., Harrison, Freya, Veening, Jan-Willem, Harrison, Ellie, Blackwell, Grace, Iqbal , Zamin, Maclean , Craig, 2019. Assessing evolutionary risks of resistance for new antimicrobial therapies. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 3, pp. 515-517
- Chen, Feng, Moat, John, McFeely, Daniel, Clarkson, Guy J., Hands-Portman, Ian J., Furner-Pardoe, Jessica P., Harrison, Freya, Dowson, Christopher G., Sadler, P. J., 2018. Biguanide iridium(III) complexes with potent antimicrobial activity. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 61 (16), pp. 7330-7344
- Mund, Anne, Diggle, Stephen P., Harrison, Freya, 2017. Erratum for Mund et al., "The fitness of pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum sensing signal cheats is influenced by the diffusivity of the environment". mBio, 8 (3)
- Mund, Anne, Diggle, Stephen P., Harrison, Freya, Greenberg, E. Peter, 2017. The fitness of pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum sensing signal cheats is influenced by the diffusivity of the environment. mBio, 8 (3), pp. e00353-17
- Davies, Sarah K., Fearn, Sarah, Allsopp, Luke P., Harrison, Freya, Ware, Ecaterina, Diggle, Stephen P., Filloux, Alain, McPhail, David S., Bundy, Jacob G., 2017. Visualizing antimicrobials in bacterial biofilms : three-dimensional biochemical imaging using TOF-SIMS. mSphere, 2 (4)
- Popat, Roman, Harrison, Freya, da Silva, Ana C., Easton, Scott A. S., McNally, Luke, Williams, Paul, Diggle, Stephen P., 2017. Environmental modification via a quorum sensing molecule influences the social landscape of siderophore production. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 284 (1852)
- Harrison, Freya, McNally, Alan, da Silva, Ana C., Heeb, Stephan, Diggle, Stephen P., 2017. Optimised chronic infection models demonstrate that siderophore ?cheating' in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is context specific. The ISME Journal, 11, pp. 2492-2509
- Harrison, Freya, Diggle, Stephen P., 2016. An ex vivo lung model to study bronchioles infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms. Microbiology, 162, pp. 1755-1760
- Granato, Elisa T., Harrison, Freya, Kümmerli, Rolf, Ross-Gillespie, Adin, 2016. Do bacterial ?virulence factors? always increase virulence? A meta-analysis of pyoverdine production in pseudomonas aeruginosa as a test case. Frontiers in Microbiology, 7
- Ruparell, Avika, Dubern, Jean Frederic, Ortori, Cartherine A, Harrison, Freya, Halliday, Nigel M., Emtage, Abigail, Ashawesh, Mahmoud, Laughton, Charles A., Diggle, Stephen P., Williams, P., Barrett, D. A. (David A.), Hardie, Kim Rachael, 2016. The fitness burden imposed by synthesising quorum sensing signals. Scientific Reports, 6, pp. 1-10
- Harrison, Freya, Roberts, Aled E. L., Gabrilska, Rebecca, Rumbaugh, Kendra P., Lee, Christina, Diggle, Stephen P., 2015. A 1,000-year-old antimicrobial remedy with antistaphylococcal activity. mBio, 6 (4), pp. e01129-15
- Popat, Roman, Pollitt, Eric J. G., Harrison, Freya, Naghra, Hardeep, Hong, Kar-Wai, Chan, Kok-Gan, Griffin, Ashleigh S., Williams, Paul, Brown, Sam P., West, Stuart A., Diggle, Stephen P., 2015. Conflict of interest and signal interference lead to the breakdown of honest signaling. Evolution, 69 (9), pp. 2371-2383
- Darch, Sophie E., McNally, Alan, Harrison, Freya, Corander, Jukka, Barr, Helen L., Paszkiewicz, Konrad, Holden, Stephen, Fogarty, Andrew, Crusz, Shanika A., Diggle, Stephen P., 2015. Recombination is a key driver of genomic and phenotypic diversity in a Pseudomonas aeruginosa population during cystic fibrosis infection. Scientific Reports, 5
- Haddad, Anneke D. M., Harrison, Freya, Norman, Thomas, Lau, Jennifer Y.F., 2014. Adolescent and adult risk-taking in virtual social contexts. Frontiers in Psychology, 5
- Harrison, Freya, Muruli, Aneesha, Higgins, Steven, Diggle, Stephen P., 2014. Development of an ex vivo porcine lung model for studying growth, virulence, and signaling of pseudomonas aeruginosa. Infection and Immunity, 82 (8), pp. 3312-3323
- Barta, Zoltán, Székely, Tamás, Liker, András, Harrison, Freya, 2014. Social role specialization promotes cooperation between parents. American Naturalist, 183 (6), pp. 747-761
- Harrison, Freya, 2013. Bacterial cooperation in the wild and in the clinic : are pathogen social behaviours relevant outside the laboratory?. BioEssays, 35 (2), pp. 108-112
- Harrison, Freya, 2013. Dynamic social behaviour in a bacterium : pseudomonas aeruginosapartially compensates for siderophore loss to cheats. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 26 (6), pp. 1370-1378
- Moore, David, Wigby, Stuart, English, Sinead, Wong, Sonny, Székely, Tamás, Harrison, Freya, 2013. Selflessness is sexy : reported helping behaviour increases desirability of men and women as long-term sexual partners. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 13 (1)
- Harrison, Freya, 2012. Bacterial cooperation in the wild and in the clinic : are pathogen social behaviours relevant outside the laboratory?. BioEssays, 35 (2), pp. 108-112
- Scanlan, Pauline D., Buckling, Angus, Kong, Weidong, Wild, Yvette, Lynch, Susan V., Harrison, Freya, 2012. Gut dysbiosis in cystic fibrosis. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis, 11 (5), pp. 454-455
- Harrison, Freya, El Mouden, Claire, 2011. Exploring the effects of working for endowments on behaviour in standard economic games. PLoS One, 6 (11)
- Harrison, Freya, Sciberras, James, James, Richard, 2011. Strength of social tie predicts cooperative investment in a human social network. PLoS One, 6 (3)
- Harrison, Freya, Buckling, Angus, 2011. Wider access to genotypic space facilitates loss of cooperation in a bacterial mutator. PLoS One, 6 (2)
- Harrison, Freya, 2010. Getting started with meta-analysis. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 2 (1), pp. 1-10
- Racey, Daniel, Inglis, Robert Fredrik, Harrison, Freya, Oliver, Antonio, Buckling, Angus, 2010. The effect of elevated mutation rates on the evolution of cooperation and virulence of pseudomonas aeruginosa. Evolution, 64 (2), pp. 515-521
- Harrison, Freya, Barta, Zoltán, Cuthill, Innes C., Székely, Tamás, 2009. How is sexual conflict over parental care resolved? A meta-analysis. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 22 (9), pp. 1800-1812
- Harrison, Freya, Buckling, Angus, 2009. Siderophore production and biofilm formation as linked social traits. The ISME Journal, 3 (5), pp. 632-634
- Kummerli, R., Griffin, A. S., West, S. A., Buckling, A., Harrison, Freya, 2009. Viscous medium promotes cooperation in the pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 276 (1672), pp. 3531-3538
- Harrison, Freya, Paul, Jon, Massey, Ruth C., Buckling, Angus, 2008. Interspecific competition and siderophore-mediated cooperation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The ISME Journal, 2 (1), pp. 49-55
- Harrison, Freya, Buckling, A., 2007. High relatedness selects against hypermutability in bacterial metapopulations. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 274 (1615), pp. 1341-1347
- Harrison, Freya, 2007. Microbial ecology of the cystic fibrosis lung. Microbiology, 153 (4), pp. 917-923
- Buckling, Angus, Harrison, Freya, Vos, Michiel, Brockhurst, Michael A., Gardner, Andy, West, Stuart A., Griffin, Ashleigh, 2007. Siderophore-mediated cooperation and virulence in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 62 (2), pp. 135-141
- Harrison, Freya, Browning, Lucy E., Vos, Michiel, Buckling, Angus, 2006. Cooperation and virulence in acute Pseudomonas aeruginosainfections. BMC Biology, 4 (1)
- Harrison, Freya, Buckling, Angus, 2005. Hypermutability impedes cooperation in pathogenic bacteria. Current Biology, 15 (21), pp. 1968-1971
- Harrison, Freya, Connelly, Erin, 2019. Could medieval medicine help the fight against antimicrobial resistance?. In Jones, Chris; Kostick, Conor; Oschema, Klaus (eds.), Making the Medieval Relevant: How Medieval Studies Contribute to Improving our Understanding of the Present, Berlin, Boston, De Gruyter, pp. 113-134
- Chen, Feng, Moat, John, McFeely, Daniel, Clarkson, Guy J., Hands-Portman, Ian, Furner-Pardoe, Jessica P., Harrison, Freya, Dowson, Christopher G., Sadler, P. J., 2018. Data for Biguanide iridium(III) complexes with potent antimicrobial activity. School of Chemistry, University of Warwick
- Harrison, Freya, Diggle, Stephen P., 2016. An ex vivo lung model to study bronchioles infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms. bioRxiv
- Popat, Roman, Harrison, Freya, McNally, Luke, Williams, Paul, Diggle, Stephen P., 2016. Environmental modification via a quorum sensing molecule influences the social landscape of siderophore production. bioRxiv
- Ruparell, Avika, Dubern, Jean Frederic, Ortori, Cartherine A, Harrison, Freya, Halliday, Nigel M, Emtage, Abigail, Ashawesh, Mahmoud, Laughton, Charles A, Diggle, Steve, Williams, Paul, Barrett, David A, Hardie, Kim Rachael, 2016. The fitness burden imposed by synthesizing quorum sensing signals. bioRxiv
- Granato, Elisa T., Harrison, Freya, Kümmerli, Rolf, Ross-Gillespie, Adin, 2016. When is a bacterial "virulence factor" really virulent?. bioRxiv
| Title | Funder | Award start | Award end |
|---|---|---|---|
| An evidence-based preclinical framework for the development of antimicrobial therapeutics in cystic fibrosis (PIPE-CF) | Cystic Fibrosis Trust | 01 Oct 2021 | 31 May 2025 |
| Datamining medieval medical texts for modern medicines (FLF Erin Connelly) | UK Research and Innovation | 07 Sep 2020 | 06 Sep 2024 |
| CoA: Building and dismantling polymicrobial pathogen communities in cystic fibrosis; linked to Ideate 53711 | UK Research and Innovation | 01 Oct 2020 | 30 Sep 2021 |
| Nettles and Networks: New ways to tackle wound infections APEX appliction Nottingham led | Royal Society | 01 Nov 2018 | 31 Oct 2020 |
| Building and dismantling polymicrobial pathogen communities in cystic fibrosis. | MRC | 01 Oct 2017 | 30 Sep 2020 |
| BIOfilm Fluorescent ANtibioTics AsSaY - BIOFANTASY. NCBI project | BBSRC | 01 Jan 2019 | 30 Jun 2019 |
| Harry Smith Vacation Studentship for Navneet Jandu | Microbiology Society | 03 Jul 2017 | 02 Sep 2017 |