Damien Huzard
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Curriculum Vitae

Damien Huzard — Neuro-physio-behaviorist, PhD

Over a decade of multidisciplinary research at the intersection of neurophysiology, behavior, and data science. Specialised in neurodevelopmental disorders (ASD) and home-cage monitoring to improve preclinical and translational outcomes. Track record of leading projects, analysing large datasets, and publishing in high-impact venues.

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Where I work

Experience

Founder, CEO & CSO

METADATAPP (MAPP) · Montpellier, France

2025 – Present

API-first platform to facilitate metadata management in preclinical research.

Building an API-first platform that makes preclinical metadata findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable — and aligned with the 3Rs (FAIRRR).

metadataFAIRplatform

Founder, Lead Scientist

NeuroNautix · Montpellier, France

2024-12 – Present

Consultancy and expert services on behavioral research, home-cage monitoring, data analysis, and FAIR metadata.

Consulting on behavioral protocols, home-cage monitoring deployments, data analysis pipelines, and FAIR metadata management for academic and industrial labs.

consultingbehaviorHCM
2023 – Present

Moderator of an open community on behavioral research methods and reproducibility.

communitybehavior

Freelance Member, WG3 & WG4

COST TEATIME

2023-02 – 2025-11

Improving biomedical research by automated behaviour monitoring in the animal home-cage.

HCMreproducibility

Senior Postdoctoral Scientist

Bourinet & François labs, IGF · Montpellier, France

2021-07 – 2024-05

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

Studied affective touch and somatosensation in mice, focusing on a Shank3-KO autism model:

  • Sensory deficits at the periphery and reduced sociability — dysregulation of primary somatosensory neurons.
  • Links with heart-rate variability features.
  • Emergence of social interest and its link with vagal components.
  • Development of affective-touch neurons (C-LTMRs) and their role in sociability.

Techniques: skin-nerve recordings, Live Mouse Tracker, ECG/HRV recordings, behavioral phenotyping.

autismC-LTMRHRVLMT

Postdoctoral Scientist

Jeanneteau Lab, IGF · Montpellier, France

2019-02 – 2021-02

Social behaviors in two mouse models of autism (Magel2-KO and Cntnap2-KO).

  • Developed the Social Fear Conditioning protocol and deployed the Live Mouse Tracker system in the lab.
  • Observed higher social fear retention in both autism models.
  • Tested whether positive social interactions can reduce social fear, with mixed results across housing conditions.
autismsocial fearLMT

PhD Candidate

Sandi Lab (LGC), EPFL · Lausanne, Switzerland

2014-03 – 2018-06

Bio-behavioral phenotyping of rats selected for differential stress-adaptation profiles.

  • Studied a rat model selected for differential adaptation profiles to stress (Low / Inter / High).
  • Validated the lines as a way to study neurodevelopment disorders related to stress pathways.
  • Demonstrated that both Low and High lines had abnormal heart-rate variability (cardiac susceptibility).
  • High-line rats had better working memory after aging (“stress helps consolidate memories”), while Low-line rats showed impaired learning and reversal deficits.
  • Explored social buffering and social contagion across rats with different “personalities”.
stressHRVpersonality

Master Project

Mumby Lab, Concordia University · Montréal, Canada

2012-07 – 2013-10

Beneficial effects of Enriched Environments on stressed rats.

Stressed rats were then housed in enriched environments in social groups (4 males, 2 females). Observed beneficial effects of enrichment on the behavioral phenotype of stressed animals.

stressenrichment

Training

Education

PhD in Neuroscience

EPFL — Sandi Lab (LGC) · Lausanne, Switzerland

2014 – 2018

Bio-behavioral phenotyping of rats selected for differential stress-adaptation profiles.

Master's in Neuroscience (Engineering Diploma)

EPFL · Lausanne, Switzerland

2011-09 – 2013-09

GPA 5.6 / 6

Bachelor's in Life Sciences

EPFL · Lausanne, Switzerland

2008-09 – 2011-09

Publications

Papers

Full list with DOIs and PDFs.

Data welfare is animal welfare: Building a WellFAIR research ecosystem

2026

Neuroscience Applied

Petit-Demoulière B, Huzard D

WELLFAIRmetadataanimal-welfareFAIR doi.org/10.1016/j.nsa.2026.106998 Source

Discriminative utility and limitations of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire for ADHD in a referred clinical pediatric sample

2026

The European Journal of Psychiatry

Fongaro E, Carlier A, Vauclare A, Brisot-Dubois J, Huzard D, Caci H, Kerbage H, Purper-Ouakil D

psychiatryADHDquestionnaireclinical-research doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpsy.2025.100333 Source

Data Sharing and Metadata

2026

Home Cage Monitoring in Rodents: A Global Effort

Forrest H, Huzard D, Restivo L, Baran SW, Petit-Demoulière B

HCMFAIRmetadatadata-sharing doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-19781-8_10 Source

Technologies for Home Cage Monitoring in Preclinical Research

2026

Home Cage Monitoring in Rodents: A Global Effort

Huzard D, Adams CK, Alvarez J, Florea M, Gaburro S, Lorimer T, Mieske P, Ruiter M, Sturman O, Weber N, Virag D

HCMtechnologymonitoringAI doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-19781-8_7 Source

A FAIR and federated repository prototype for multimodal Home-Cage Monitoring biomedical data

2026

Zenodo

Huzard D, Bluchet A, Dunglas K

Preprint HCMFAIRfederated-repositorymetadata doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19221771 Source

Primary sensory neuron dysfunction underlying mechanical itch hypersensitivity in a Shank3 mouse model of autism

2025

Translational Psychiatry

Huzard D, Oliva G, Marias M, Granat C, Soubeyre V, do Nascimento Pereira G, Negm A, Grellier G, Devaux J, Bourinet E, François A

autismsomatosensoryShank3 doi.org/10.1038/s41398-025-03461-w Source

Too big to lose – a FAIR repository for biomedical data derived from home-cage monitoring

2025

OSF Preprints

Bains RS, Huzard D, McCutcheon JE, Boguszewski P, Virag D, Restivo L, Lewejohann L, Asby M, Rozman J, Rivalan M, Gates H, Forrest H, Kallokoski O, Girard B

Preprint HCMFAIRopen-dataTEATIME doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/fsg83_v1 Source

The impact of C-tactile low-threshold mechanoreceptors on affective touch and social interactions in mice

2022

Science Advances, Vol 8, Num 26 eabo7566

Huzard D, Martin M, Maingret F, Chemin J, Jeanneteau F, Mery PF, Fossat P, Bourinet E, François A

C-LTMRtouchsociabilityautism doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abo7566 Source PDF

Experience and activity-dependent control of glucocorticoid receptors during the stress response in large-scale brain networks

2021

Stress, 24(2):130-153

Huzard D, Rappeneau V, Meijer OC, Touma C, Arango-Lievano M, Garabedian MJ, Jeanneteau F

stressglucocorticoidbrain networks doi.org/10.1080/10253890.2020.1806226 PDF

Constitutive differences in glucocorticoid responsiveness are related to divergent spatial information processing abilities

2020

Stress, 23(1):37-49

Huzard D, Vouros A, Monari S, Astori S, Vasilaki E, Sandi C

glucocorticoidspatial learningstress doi.org/10.1080/10253890.2019.1625885 PDF

Control of Social Withdrawal of Mice Deficient for the Autism Gene Magel2 by Restoration of Vasopressin-Oxytocin Dialogue in Septum

2019

bioRxiv

Borie AM, Dromard Y, Dufner D, Pollozi E, Huzard D, Jeanneteau F

Preprint Magel2autismvasopressinoxytocin Source

Low vagal tone in two rat models of psychopathology involving high or low corticosterone stress responses

2019

Psychoneuroendocrinology, 101:101-110

Huzard D, Ghosal S, Grosse J, Carnevali L, Sgoifo A, Sandi C

HRVvagal tonestress doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.11.003 PDF

The link between aberrant hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity during development and the emergence of aggression — Animal studies

2018

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 91:138-152

Walker SE*, Papilloud A*, Huzard D*, Sandi C

* Equal contribution

HPA axisaggressiondevelopment doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.10.008 PDF

Low empathy-like behaviour in male mice associates with impaired sociability, emotional memory, physiological stress reactivity and variations in neurobiological regulations

2017

PLoS One, 12(12):e0188907

Laviola G, Zoratto F, Ingiosi D, Carito V, Huzard D, Fiore M, Macrì S

empathysociabilitystress doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0188907

Urolithin A induces mitophagy and prolongs lifespan in C. elegans and increases muscle function in rodents

2016

Nature Medicine, 22(8):879-88

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

mitophagyagingmuscle doi.org/10.1038/nm.4132

The effects of extrinsic stress on somatic markers and behavior are dependent on animal housing conditions

2015

Physiology & Behavior, 151:238-45

Huzard D, Mumby DG, Sandi C, Poirier GL, van der Kooij MA

stresshousingenrichment doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.07.018 PDF

ORCID records

Outputs

Software, protocols, roadmaps, and other citable records.

dhuzard/HCMO: zenodo-doi

2026

Software

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18925285

Contributors: Huzard D

Source: ORCID via OpenAIRE

ontologyHCMsoftware

Towards reproducible and FAIR preclinical research: modernizing metadata management

2025-11-27

Other

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17909112, 10.5281/zenodo.17909111

Contributors: Huzard D

Source: ORCID via OpenAIRE

FAIRmetadatapreclinical

MBO

2025-01-01

Other

DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/s8kr9

Contributors: Huzard D; Rivalan M; Restivo L; Sounchio SS

Source: ORCID via OpenAIRE

MBOontologymetadata

HMC protocols

2025-01-01

Protocol

DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/7u2v3

Contributors: Bains RS; Huzard D

Source: ORCID via OpenAIRE

protocolHCM

Experience and activity-dependent control of glucocorticoid receptors during stress responses

2020-01-01

Other

DOI: 10.13140/rg.2.2.32366.23362

Contributors: Huzard D; Arango-Lievano M; Borie A; Dromard Y; Jeanneteau F

Source: ORCID via OpenAIRE

stressglucocorticoid

Low vagal modulation of heart rate in rats with low or high corticosterone responsiveness to stress

2018-07-02

Other

DOI: 10.26226/morressier.5b31ec742afeeb001345b512

Contributors: Huzard D

Source: ORCID via OpenAIRE

HRVstressphysiology

Impact of individual differences in glucocorticoid adaptation to stress on behavior, neurophysiology and metabolism

2018-01-01

Thesis

DOI: 10.13140/rg.2.2.23180.97925, 10.5075/epfl-thesis-8551

Contributors: Huzard DS

Source: ORCID via OpenAIRE

thesisstressneurophysiology

Heart-rate variability of rats stressed during puberty or selected for stress reactivity

2016-01-01

Other

DOI: 10.13140/rg.2.1.2983.3200

Contributors: Huzard D; Papilloud A; Walker S; Sandi C

Source: ORCID via OpenAIRE

HRVstressrat

Recognition

Grants & Awards

  • COST — Young Researchers and Innovators Travel Grant

    Attendance to NeuroFrance on behalf of The Behaviour Forum.

    COST

    2025-05

  • YISS — Best Speaker Award (€500)

    Invitation to attend the Cajal MABA Neurokit course.

    IGF

    2023-06

  • RFRD Symposium — Best Presentation Award

    Invitation to the SFETD 2023 conference.

    RFRD

    2023-03

  • Excellent Paper in Neuroscience Award (EPNA)

    Awarded for the Science Advances paper on C-LTMRs and affective touch.

    NEURON-ERANET

    2023-01

  • 1-year postdoctoral funding

    Lefoulon-Delalande Foundation

    2021

  • FENS attendance voucher

    FENS

    2020

  • FENS / IBRO Travel Grant

    FENS / IBRO

    2018

Outreach

Press & media

Service

Responsibilities

Mentoring

Students supervised

Hugo Moreno

Bachelor · 2015

Operant conditioning on rats; statistical analysis.

Ann-Rivière Warter Jouve

Bachelor · 2015

Anxiety-like behavioral test on rats; statistical analysis.

Astrid Nilsson

Bachelor · 2016

Behavioral neuroscience project.

Marie Abbet

Bachelor · 2016

Behavioral neuroscience project.

Bérénice Pommier

M2 (6 months) · 2020

Analysis of Social Fear Conditioning in Magel2/Cntnap2 mouse models; brain IHC (COVID period).

Fanny Andreu

IUT (6 months) · 2020

Analysis of Social Fear Conditioning in Magel2/Cntnap2 mouse models.

Paul Carrascosa

M2 + 1-year CDD · 2022–2024

Python development of LMT tools (ipywidget) — user-friendly Jupyter notebook for data visualization and stats.

Giulia Oliva

PhD · 2023–2024

Behavior and Shank3 mouse model.

Hasan Lamat

MD internship (2 months) · 2023

PCRs, behavioral experiments, and scoring analysis.

Mattéo Traissac

M1 (2 months) · 2023

Python development of LMT tools.

Chloé Granat

Master · 2024

Behavior and response to affective touch in a Shank3 mouse model.

Get in touch

Contact

Email: damien.huzard@gmail.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dhuzard

Book a meeting: koalendar.com/e/meet-with-damien-huzard