Each year the Society for Applied Microbiology awards the prestigious WH Pierce Prize to an academic at an early stage in their career who has made a substantial contribution to the science of applied microbiology.

This year the prize was awarded to Dr Freya Harrison, Associate Professor in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Warwick. Freya was nominated for her work in translating medieval literature and medical texts to uncover ancient antimicrobial recipes.

Dr Harrison’s most recent research involved reconstructing a 1,000-year-old medieval remedy containing onion, garlic, wine, and bile salts, which is known as ‘Bald’s eyesalve’, her team then tested it on MRSA and results showed it to have promising antibacterial activity.

Since then, the team has started to explore patterns in the use of natural ingredients in historical medical books, to decide which materials and recipes are most worth testing in the lab.

Upon receiving her award Dr Freya Harrison, from the School of Life Sciences at the University of Warwick comments:
“It was a big surprise to find out I had been nominated for and awarded the prize. I'm delighted and very honoured that my colleagues and SfAM have put me in the company of the fantastic microbiologists who have won in previous years. Knowing that my work, and the work of my team and collaborators, is held in this regard is very affirming. It's been a huge boost as I look forward to seeing where we can take our research in the future, to better understand and treat antibiotic-resistant infections”.

The idea behind researching medieval medicines for modern day infections is a story itself, Dr Harrison explains:
“Not all of my colleagues know that I've spent a good proportion of the last seventeen years training in medieval swordfighting - but it's that hobby that triggered an interest in medieval attempts to treat infection.

“The experiment that led to the ‘ancientbiotics’ project was the product of casual conversations with colleagues from microbiology and the humanities. We would never have guessed that this fun side project would have led to the formation of a research network using medieval texts as inspiration for natural product drug discovery, and my first Phase I human trial. It's thrilling to do work that could have a direct health benefit for people and getting this far has made me look at drug discovery in a new way, and is opening up a whole new research approach for my team.”

You can read more about Ancientbiotics and Freya’s work here.

ENDS

14 OCTOBER 2021

NOTES TO EDITORS

High-res images available at:

https://warwick.ac.uk/services/communications/medialibrary/images/july_2020/baldseyesalve.png
Caption: The Balds Eyesalve mixture in the lab.
Credit: University of Warwick

https://warwick.ac.uk/services/communications/medialibrary/images/july_2020/a80138-63.jpg
Caption: The actual eyesalve remedy text.
Credit: © The British Library Board (Royal 12 D xvii)

https://warwick.ac.uk/services/communications/medialibrary/images/september_2021/dr_freya_harrison.jpg
Caption: Dr Freya Harrison from the School of Life Sciences at the University of Warwick
Credit: University of Warwick

For further information please contact:

Alice Scott
Media Relations Manager – Science
University of Warwick
Tel: +44 (0) 7920 531 221
E-mail: alice.j.scott@warwick.ac.uk

For further information please contact:

Alice Scott
Media Relations Manager – Science
University of Warwick
Tel: +44 (0) 7920 531 221
E-mail: alice.j.scott@warwick.ac.uk