Outcomes and Engagements

Outcomes and Engagements

 

Publications

Click on 'View paper' for direct access to the publication.

Sweet and sour synergy: exploring the antibacterial and antibiofilm activity of acetic acid and vinegar combined with medical-grade honeys.
By Freya Harrison, Anisa Blower, Christopher de Wolf and Erin Connelly. View paper.

An assessment of the evidence for antibacterial activity of stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) extracts.
By Freya Harrison, Jessica Turner-Pardoe and Erin Connelly. View paper.

The Art of Looking Good: Hair and Beauty Remedies in Early Medieval Texts and Contexts, in: Art and Worship in the Insular World, ed. G. Owen-Crocker and M. Clegg-Hyer, pp 45-67. Brill:  2021 (Book chapter). View online.

Anti-biofilm efficacy of a medieval treatment for bacterial infection requires the combination of multiple ingredients. View paper.
By Jessica Turner-Pardoe, Blessing Aonye, Ricky Cain, John Moat, Catherine Ortori, Christina Lee, David Barrett, Christopher Corr & Freya Harrison.

The safety profile of Bald’s eyesalve for the treatment of bacterial infections. View paper.
By Blessing Ononye, Valentine Nweke, Jessica Turner-Pardoe et al. 2020.

Data Mining a Medieval Medical Text Reveals Patterns in Ingredient Choice That Reflect Biological Activity against Infectious Agents. View paper.
By Erin Connelly, Charo del Gebio and Freya Harrison. 2020.

Could Medieval Medicine Help the Fight Against Antimicrobial Resistance? (Book chapter) In: Making the Medieval Relevant: How Medieval Studies Contribute to Improving our Understanding of the Present. Eds Chris Jones , Conor Kostick and Klaus Oschema. 2020

New Approaches to Disease, Disability and Medicine in Medieval Europe (Book). Eds Erin Connelly, Stefanie Künzel, 2018. View book.

Eine 1000 jahre alte Rezeptur gegen multiresistente Keime (German language article). 2016. View paper.

A 1,000-Year-Old Antimicrobial Remedy with Antistaphylococcal Activity. 2015. View paper.
By Freya Harrison, Aled E Roberts, Rebecca Gabrilska, Kendra Rumbaugh, Christina Lee & Stephen Diggle.

 

Conferences

  • IMC (International Medieval Congress) Leeds 2023

  • IMC (International Medieval Congress) Kalamazoo 2023

 
  • The Chemistry and Biology of Natural Products Symposium XVI, Warwick, June 2023
 
  • Microbiology Society Annual Conference Birmingham, April 2023
 
  • International Medieval Congress Leeds, ‘Nettles and Networks,’ July 2022
 
  • Society for Microbiology Focussed Meeting, ‘Antimicrobial drug discovery from traditional and historical medicine,’ October 2019; Interview with Freya Harrison.
 
  • 2019 ISSIME/ Meeting of the Society for Anglo-Saxonists, ‘Ancientbiotics: What’s Next’ (with focus on Nettles research), August  2019
 

Public Engagement

Radio:        

TV:


 

 News Articles: 


Other events: 

2023: Plants & Prayers Exhibition, May - Sept at Lakeside Arts, Nottingham.
2021: Nottingham Festival of Science, ‘Future of Medicine’
2021: Online talk and lab demo for the Warwickshire Women’s Institute.
2021: An introduction to Ancientbiotics, Bromley House Library
2021: Talk for Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh 
2019: British Library Study Day to accompany the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms Exhibition, Anglo-Saxon Health 
2019: York Festival of Ideas 2019: Back to the Future: How Studying History Helps Medical Science. A public open evening at the University of Warwick, showcasing the work of our team and of colleagues working on different aspects of the history of medicine from STEM and humanities departments.
2017: Keynote Lecture, Orrery Society Annual Meeting, Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, University of Pennsylvania 
2015: Festival of Humanities at King’s College, London 
2015: East Midlands branch of the Royal Society for Chemists
 

Internships & Studentships

Michael Firth, 2023

Michael worked as a Research Assistant Intern to Dr. Christina Lee from the 26th June – 21st July 2023, his work was mainly surrounding building tools, content and resdesigning the Ancientbiotics website, as well as assisting Dr. Lee in relation to the public engagement of the Plants & Prayers exhibit, read his blog for this experience below:

“I became Dr Lee’s intern through the Summer Research Placement Programme offered at the University of Nottingham. As someone who studies Ancient Greco-Roman and Ancient Mediterranean history, entering the field of medieval medicine was intimidating to begin, but I quickly found it exciting to learn history that is new to me whilst also performing paid work. In addition, this aided Dr Lee in approaching some of the public-facing content, as I could give honest feedback as to what is suitable to an audience with less expertise in this historical period and field of study. I feel that ‘Research Assistant’ does not begin to cover the rewarding work I have done during this placement, due to the exciting opportunities that I have been able to take advantage of and the amount of vastly different work I’ve approached. Overall, working with this amazing and talented interdisciplinary team has been a truly rewarding experience. Not only have I developed research, liaison, and other essential skills for this career prospect, I have also met and worked with some fantastic people along the way, who all offered support and guidance at every hurdle. I started the internship knowing I would learn a significant amount about the field of research; I have finished the internship not only with this knowledge and experience but also with the proud feeling that I have in some way assisted a team that I believe is making genuine milestones which will greatly benefit the disciplines of English, history and biology and our health for many years to come.”

Mutiat Akamo, 2023

Mutiat is an History of Art and English student who worked as an Research Assistant Intern through the ‘Excellence in Science’ programme at the University of Nottingham, supervised Dr. Christina Lee and working closely with Dr. Erin Connelly. She worked closely with the Plants & Prayers 2023 exhibit, conducting relevant research and working on the outreach – particularly for diverse demographics. She also wrote a fantastic pamphlet regarding the colonial attitudes towards traditional African medicine. Read Mutiat's blog about her experience.

Summer Studentships

Two graduates, Jason Millington from the University of Nottingham and Thorulf Vargsen from the University of Oxford, spent their summer working with Dr Freya Harrison at the University of Nottingham to assist with the ‘Bald’s Eyesalve’ project. This was under a summer studentship. Jason explored the activity of Bald’s eyesalve against various clinical isolates of S. aureus, and he also investigated whether storage conditions affected the eyesalve’s activity. Thorulf tested the eyesalve’s activity against clinical isolates of different species of bacteria, and he also started to look at the effects of the eyesalve on human cells. Both students produced a lay report of their work to share with the contributors to the crowdfunding campaign which supported their summer studentships.

 

Youtube

AncientBiotics project

An overvew of AncientBiotics

AncientBiotics - WH Pierce Prize 2021 winner Dr Frey Harrison

One of the researchers on the AncientBiotics team was awarded the prestigious WH Pierce Prize in 2021