About Me

Hi! I’m Damien Huzard, PhD in behavioral neuroscience

Email: damien.huzard (at) gmail.com ORCID: 0000-0003-4820-7951

For Behavioral expertise, Consultancy on FAIR Metadata management and Data analysis services please check NEURONAUTIX website! To Book a quick meeting please check here

I’m fascinated by bio-behavioral phenotyping, which is considering and describing organisms in their entirerity. I consider myself a Scientist specialized in neuroscience, physiology and behavioral outputs. I like doing a lot of stuff, mostly science related. I’m also an Open Science Advocate.

My main research interests gravitated around the concepts of Adaptation, Stress, coping strategies, social interactions which are linked to main physiological features such as cardiac regulation* and (somato)sensory-processing. I am an advocate for the biobehavioral phenotyping of animal models, pushing for a description over an interpretation of data! In my last postdoc, I was focusing on analyzing the skin as (one of) the first interface linking environment and behavioral adaptation.

Now, I’m very much interested into FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) (meta)data management and how this could be improved in preclinical laboratory settings. This is why, I initiated the project MAPP. In that context, I’m now trying to incorporate relevant aspect of the Web Semantics into intuitive research workflows. I also created the FAIRRR framework, a dedicated label specifying that FAIR preclinical research respects the 3Rs (Replace, Reduce, Refine) => FAIR for the Animals, and for Innovative, Reproducible, and Responsible Research (FAIRRR).

My interests/expertise are:

• I love Home Cage monitoring technologies and the way integrating various sensors may lead to the most accurate and usefull digital biomarkers in preclinical research.
• I am an expert in behavior: protocols and analysis. I’m administrator of TheBehaviourForum
• I know Python coding and data analysis (Pandas, Scipy, Seaborn, statsmodel, Dabest, ipywidget, …).
• I developed one python library (LWTools - LMT-Widget-Tool) to help non-python-experts analyze live mouse tracker data.
• I combine behavioral tests with physiological parameters, such as ECG/HRV and Skin-Nerve recordings.
• I developp a API-first platform for better metadata management in preclinical reseach: MAPP.

My ultimate goal is to improve the way preclinical behavioral research could benefit translational and clinical research.

MAPP — MetaDatApp

API‑first platform for preclinical metadata management.

Visit

HCM Ontology Mapper

Map device outputs and labels to shared ontologies for comparability.

Learn more

NeuroNautix

Consulting in behavioral research, HCM, and FAIR metadata.

Services

Non-Academic Experience

Founder and CEO (+ CSO)

METADATAPP (MAPP)
Montpellier, France ‘A platform to facilitate metadata management in preclinical research.’

Website

Founder

NeuroNautix
Montpellier, France Dec 2024 - today ‘Consultancy and expert services on Behavioral research, Homecage monitoring Solutions, Data analysis and FAIR metadata management’

Website

Academic/Lab Experience

Senior Postdoc

Labs of E. Bourinet and A. François
University of Montpellier, Inserm, IGF
Montpellier, France July 2021 - May 2024

Lab link

What if the skin and somatosensory system were involved in social deficits of a mouse model of autism?

I was Studying the effects of Affective Touch on mice:

• Analyzing a Shank3-KO mouse model of autism:
  • What if sensory deficits at the periphery may be related to reduced sociability?
  • Dysregulation of primary somatosensory neurons.
• Links with heart rate variability features?
• Studying the emergence of social interest and its link with vagal components.
• Studying the development of affective touch neurons (C-LTMRs) and their implication on the development of sociability.

Techniques used: Skin-Nerve recordings, Live Mouse Tracker, ECG recordings (HRV analysis), behavioral phenotyping…

Postdoc #1

Jeanneteau Lab
Inserm, IGF
Montpellier, France February 2019 - February 2021

I was studying social behaviors with two mouse models of Autism (Magel2-KO and Cntnap2-KO).

• Developed the Social Fear Conditioning protocol and the Live Mouse Tracker system in the laboratory.
• Observed higher social fear retention in both mouse models of autism.
• Attempted to reduce social fear with positive social interactions (with different social housing conditions)… It only worked in some specific situations.

PhD Candidate

Sandi Lab (LGC)
EPFL, Switzerland March 2014 - June 2018

LGC Lab link

I studied the bio-behavioral phenotype of rats with different stress adaptation profiles:

• Focused on a model of rats selected for differential adaptation profiles to stress.
• Low < Inter < High reaction animals showed different bio-behavioral profiles.
• Validated the use of the lines as an effective way to study neurodevelopment disorders related to stress pathways.
• Demonstrated that both Low and High lines had abnormal heart rate variability (cardiac susceptibility).
• Observed that High line rats had better working memories after aging: “stress helps consolidate memories”, while the Low line rats had impaired learning and deficits in memory reversal: “illustrating negative effects of blunted stress responses”.
• Explored the influence of social buffering and social contagion between rats with different ‘personalities’ by housing them together (still under preparation…).

Master Project

Mumby Lab
Concordia University
Montreal, Canada July 2012 - October 2013

CSBN Website

The effects of extrinsic stress on somatic markers and behavior are dependent on animal housing conditions, D. Huzard et al., Physiology and Behavior, 2015

• Studied the beneficial effects of Enriched Environments on stressed rats.
• Rats were stressed and then housed in enriched environments in social groups (4 males and 2 females).
• Observed beneficial effects of the enrichment on the behavioral phenotype of the stressed animals.

Academic Education

Master’s Degree in Neuroscience

EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland September 2011 - September 2013 GPA: 5.6/6

Bachelor’s Degree in Life Sciences

EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland September 2008 - September 2011

Publications

• Primary sensory neuron dysfunction underlying mechanical itch hypersensitivity in a Shank3 mouse model of autism
  BioRxiv, 2024 Dec 29; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.12.29.630575 Huzard D, Marias M, Granat C, Oliva J, Soubeyre V, Grellier G, Negm A, Devaux J, Bourinet E, and François A.
  LINK

• The impact of C-tactile low-threshold mechanoreceptors on affective touch and social interactions in mice.
  Science Advances, 2022 June 29; Vol 8, Num 26 eabo7566. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abo7566. PMID: 35767616; PMCID: PMC9242590.
  Huzard D, Martin M, Maingret F, Chemin J, Jeanneteau F, Mery PF, Fossat P, Bourinet E, and François A.
  PDF

• Experience and activity-dependent control of glucocorticoid receptors during the stress response in large-scale brain networks.
  Stress, 2021 March;24(2):130-153. DOI: 10.1080/10253890.2020.1806226
  Huzard D, Rappeneau V, Meijer O.C., Touma C., Arango-Lievano M., Garabedian M.J., Jeanneteau F
  PDF

• Constitutive differences in glucocorticoid responsiveness are related to divergent spatial information processing abilities.
  Stress, 2020 Jan;23(1):37-49. doi: 10.1080/10253890.2019.1625885. Epub 2019 Jun 12. PMID: 31187686.
  Huzard D, Vouros A, Monari S, Astori S, Vasilaki E, Sandi C.
  PDF

• Control of Social Withdrawal of Mice Deficient for the Autism Gene Magel2 by Restoration of Vasopressin-Oxytocin Dialogue in Septum.
  Borie AM, Dromard Y, Dufner D, Pollozi E, Huzard D, …(+7)…, Jeanneteau F.
  bioRxiv Link

• The link between aberrant hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity during development and the emergence of aggression—Animal studies.
  Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 2018 Aug;91:138-152. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.10.008. Epub 2016 Oct 14. PMID: 27751733.
  Walker SE*, Papilloud A*, Huzard D*, Sandi C.
  *Equal contribution.
  PDF

• Low vagal tone in two rat models of psychopathology involving high or low corticosterone stress responses.
  Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2019 Mar;101:101-110. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.11.003. Epub 2018 Nov 3. PMID: 30448728.
  Huzard D, Ghosal S, Grosse J, Carnevali L, Sgoifo A, Sandi C.
  PDF

• Low empathy-like behaviour in male mice associates with impaired sociability, emotional memory, physiological stress reactivity and variations in neurobiological regulations.
  PLoS One, 2017 Dec 4;12(12):e0188907. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0188907. PMID: 29200428; PMCID: PMC5714342.
  Laviola G, Zoratto F, Ingiosi D, Carito V, Huzard D, Fiore M, Macrì S.

• Urolithin A induces mitophagy and prolongs lifespan in C. elegans and increases muscle function in rodents.
  Nature Medicine, 2016 Aug;22(8):879-88. doi: 10.1038/nm.4132. Epub 2016 Jul 11. PMID: 27400265.
  Ryu D, Mouchiroud L, Andreux PA, Katsyuba E, Moullan N, Nicolet-Dit-Félix AA, Williams EG, Jha P, Lo Sasso G, Huzard D, Aebischer P, Sandi C, Rinsch C, Auwerx J.

• The effects of extrinsic stress on somatic markers and behavior are dependent on animal housing conditions.
  Physiology & Behavior, 2015 Nov 1;151:238-45. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.07.018. Epub 2015 Jul 26. PMID: 26220463.
  Huzard D, Mumby DG, Sandi C, Poirier GL, van der Kooij MA.
  PDF

Conferences / Oral and Poster Presentations

• 2025, May - NeuroFrance - Poster “The Behaviour Forum”
• 2025, May - TEATIME Webinar - Oral presentation “The use of AI in laboratory research communication”
• 2025, Jan. - TEATIME Webinar - Oral presentation “The importance of Storytelling in Animal research communication”
• 2023, Nov. - SFETD, Saint-Malo - Oral presentation in the ‘Young Talents’ session: “PRIMARY SOMATOSENSORY NEURONS DYSFUNCTION IN A MOUSE MODEL OF AUTISM”
• 2023, July - The Festival of Touch, IASAT, Marseille - Poster: “PRIMARY SOMATOSENSORY NEURONS DYSFUNCTION IN A MOUSE MODEL OF AUTISM”
• 2023, May - Neurofrance, Lyon - Poster: “PRIMARY SOMATOSENSORY NEURONS DYSFUNCTION IN A MOUSE MODEL OF AUTISM”
• 2023, March - French Pain Research Network Symposium, Montpellier: “ITCH HYPERSENSITIVITY AND SOMATOSENSORY DYSFUNCTION IN A MOUSE MODEL OF AUTISM”
• 2023, March - YISS, IGF Montpellier: “PRIMARY SENSORY NEURONS DYSFUNCTION IN A MOUSE MODEL OF AUTISM”
• 2023, Jan. - EPNA Award special lecture, Eranet meeting, Madrid, presenting this paper
• 2022 - Spin-Days, Sète. Oral Presentation: ‘The skin is the new brain’
• 2022 - FENS, Paris. Poster: ‘The Impact of C-LTMRs on sociability in mice’
• 2022 - Short Communication, GIS Autism Andrew #3
• 2020 - FENS, Virtual. Poster
• 2019 - Invited Talk by Vincent Prevost, Inserm Lille: ‘The links between Stress Adaptation and the personality of rats’
• 2018 - FENS, Berlin. Poster
• 2018 - MATRICS (EU FP7) General Assembly, Oral Presentation, Rome
• 2018 - Webinar for MATRICS EU-FP7 consortium (YouTube Link)
• 2017 - MATRICS (EU FP7) General Assembly, Oral Presentation, Majorca
• 2017 - EPFL Brain-Mind-Institute retreat, Villars, Oral Presentation
• 2016 - FENS, Copenhagen. Poster
• 2016 - MATRICS (EU FP7) General Assembly, Dublin
• 2015 - Ettore Majorama Conference, Stress, the brain and the heart, Erice, Italy
• 2014 - FENS, Milan. Poster

Grants / Awards

• 2025, May - COST - Young researcher and innovators travel Grant ⇒ Attendance to neuroFrance on Behalf of The Behaviour Forum
• 2023, June - YISS, IGF - Best Speaker Award (€500) ⇒ Cajal MABA Neurokit course
• 2023, March - RFRD 2023 Symposium - Best Presentation Award ⇒ Invitation to the SFETD 2023 conference
• 2023, January - EPNA - ‘Excellent Paper in Neuroscience Award’ from neuron-eranet.eu for our article in Science Advances: Paper Link
• 2021 - 1-year postdoc funding by the Lefoulon-Delalande foundation
• 2020 - FENS attendance voucher
• 2018 - FENS/IBRO Travel Grant

Press / Science Outreach

• Gehirn & Geist Feb 2023, “Die soziale Kraft der Berührung”
  Article Link
• Neurosapiens Podcast Nov 2022, on Social contacts
  Audio Link
• Cerveaux et Psycho Oct 2022, “Le toucher fondement du lien social”
  Online Article Link
• Espiloon 2021, “Le pouvoir des Caresses”, issue N°147
• Canal9 TV channel, TV Interview for documentary on rats’ social behaviors

Reviewing Articles

• 2022 - Frontiers in Neuroscience

Collaborations

• Denis Greuet (INM Montpellier): Testing Homecage monitoring systems
• Lilian Basso (Toulouse): Analysis of inflammatory markers in the skin.
• Antoine Besnard (IGF):
  • Testing somatosensory responses (Von-Frey filaments) in the context of avoidance in mice.
  • Testing active place avoidance (APA) of Shank3 mice.
• Pascal Fossat & François Maingret (Bordeaux): In vivo electrophysiology on C-LTMRs.
• Emmanuel Valjent (IGF): Screening social dynamics in LMT with Amphetamines.

Responsibilities

• 2025-Present: Founder of METADATAPP
• 2024-Present: Founder of NeuroNautix
• 2023-Present: Moderator of TheBehaviouralForum.org
• 2023-Present: Member of COST-TEATIME (WG3 & 4): Improving biomedical research by automated behaviour monitoring in the animal home-cage
• 2022-Present: Member of the IGF lab council
• 2021-Present: President of a non-profit association (related to abstract tattoo)
• 2017-2018: Junior representative of the MATRICS FP7 European project (Project Description)
• 2016-2018: Organizer of the EPFL-BMI happy hours
• 2013-2014: Member of the AESV association (Website)

Students Supervised

• 2024: Chloé Granat (Master Student) - Behavior and resposne to affective touch in Shank3 mouse model
• 2023-2024: Giulia Oliva (PhD student) - Behavior and Shank3 mouse model
• 2022-2024: Paul Carrascosa (M2 + 1-year CDD) - Python development of LMT tools (ipywidget); creation of a user-friendly Jupyter notebook for data visualization and stats
• 2023 (2 months): Hasan Lamat (MD internship) - Training (PCRs, behavioral experiments, and scoring analysis)
• 2023 (2 months): Mattéo Traissac (M1) - Python development of LMT tools
• 2020 (6 months): Bérénice Pommier (M2) - Analysis of Social Fear Conditioning in Magel2/Cntnap2 mice models; Brain IHC (Covid period…)
• 2020 (6 months): Fanny Andreu (IUT) - Analysis of Social Fear Conditioning in Magel2/Cntnap2 mice models
• 2016: Astrid Nilsson (Bachelor)
• 2016: Marie Abbet (Bachelor)
• 2015: Ann-Rivière Warter Jouve (Bachelor) - Anxiety-like behavioral test on rats; statistical analysis
• 2015: Hugo Moreno (Bachelor) - Operant conditioning on rats; statistical analysis

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