Sylvain Giroud - Department of Biology

2114 Weston Hall
Office Phone: (906) 227-2145
sgiroud@nmu.edu

Website: The Energetics Lab

• 2022 – Habilitation, Animal Physiology, University of Vienna 
• 2008 – PhD, Animal Ecological Physiology, University of Strasbourg
• 2004 – MSc, Integrative Physiology in Extreme Environments, University of Lyon
• 2003 – Graduate, Organismic and Cellular Physiology, University of Concordia
• 2002 – BSc, Physiology and Cellular Biology, University of Grenoble

My research focuses on the mechanisms enabling animal species to manage their energy balance and hence to cope with environmental fluctuations in an ecological and evolutionary context. A particular interest lies on how heterothermic endotherms especially hibernators respond to climate change and global warming. My research further contributes to environmental health issues through the development of a biomimicry approach.

• BI 208 – Anatomy & Physiology II
• BI 427 – Ecological Animal Physiology

• Evans A.L, Fuchs B, Navinder J.S, Giroud S, Blanc S, Laske T.G, Frobert O, Friebe A,
  Swenson J.E, Arnemo J.M. Body mass determines hibernation length, body temperature,
  and heart rate in free-ranging brown bears. Frontiers in Zoology 20, 27, 2023.
  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12983-023-00501-3
• Giroud S, Ragger M-T§, Baille B, Hoelzl F, Smith S, Nowack J, Ruf T. Food availability
  positively affects the survival and somatic maintenance of hibernating garden dormice
  (Eliomys quercinus). Frontiers in Zoology 20, 19, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12983-023-00498-9   
• Strandvik B, Qureschi A.R, Painer J, Backman-Johansson C, Engvall M, Fröbert O,
  Stenwinkel P*, Giroud S*. Elevated plasma phospholipid docosapentaenoic acid
  concentrations during hibernation in garden dormice and brown bears. Accepted in PLoS One Jun 9;18(6):e0285782, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0285782
  *equally-contributed authors 
• ​De Wit L, Hamberg M.R, Ross A.M, Goris M, Lie F.F, Giroud S, Henning R.H, Hut R.A.
  Temperature effects on DNA damage in hibernation. Physiological and Biochemical
  Zoology - Special theme issue: ‘Hibernation and Daily Torpor’ 96(2):144-152, 2023.
  https://doi.org/10.1086/722904
• Charlanne L§, Vetter S, Einwaller J, Painer J, Gilbert C*, Giroud S*. ‚Sleeping together’:
  energetic consequences of huddling behavior in hibernating juvenile garden dormice
  (Eliomys quercinus). Physiological and Biochemical Zoology - Special theme issue:
  ‘Hibernation and Daily Torpor’ 95(5): 400-415, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1086/721184 
  *equally-contributed authors
•  Ruf T, Giroud S, Geiser F. Hypothesis and Theory: A two-process model of torpor-
  arousal regulation in hibernators. Frontiers in Physiology - Special Topic ‘Biological
  rhythms: Evolution, Population Biology, and Adaptation’ 13:901270, 2022.
  https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.901270
• ​Giroud S, Habold C, Vetter S, Painer J, Four-Chaboussant A§, Smith S, Gilbert C. Living
  in a changing world: Physiological and behavioral flexibility of juvenile garden dormice.
  11th International Dormice Conference, Svilengrad, Bulgaria, May 9-13, 2022,
  Congress Abstract. https://doi.org/10.3897/aca.5.e81850
• Thiel A, Giroud S, Hertel A.G, Friebe A, Devineau O, Fuchs B, Blanc S, Støen O.G,
  Laske T, Arnemo J.M, Evans A.L. Slowing the pace in winter: Seasonality of biological
  rhythms in Scandinavian brown bears. Frontiers in Physiology - Special Topic
  ‘Biological rhythms: Evolution, Population Biology, and Adaptation’ 13:785706, 2022.
  https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.785706
• Ruf T, Gasch K§, Stalder G, Gerritsmann H, Giroud S. An hourglass mechanism controls
  torpor bout length in hibernating garden dormice. Journal of Experimental Biology
  224(23):jeb243456, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.243456
• Giroud S, Chery I, Arrivé M, Prost M, Zumsteg J, Heintz D, Evans A.L, Gauquelin-Koch
  G, Arnemo J.M, Swenson J.E, Lefai E, Bertile F, Simon C, Blanc S. Hibernating brown
  bears are protected against atherogenic dyslipidaemia. Scientific Reports 11:18723,
  2021. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-98085-7
• ​Haugg E, Borner J, Giroud S, Herwig A. Differential gene expression in the
  hypothalamus of hibernating garden dormice (Eliomys quercinus). 14th Meeting of the
  German Neuroscience Society, Virtual Conference, Göttingen, Germany, March 22-30,
  2021. Neuroforum (27), S T22-1, Congress Abstract, 2021 [ISSN: 2363-7013]
• Huber N, Gerritsmann H, Stalder G, Giroud S. Shifts in immune cell function and
  composition in hibernating garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus). Frontiers in
  Physiology - Special Topic ‘The Integrative Physiology of Metabolic Down-states’
  12:620614, 2021. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.620614
• Bertile F, Habold C, Le Maho Y, Giroud S. Body protein sparing in hibernators: a source
  for biomedical innovation. Frontiers in Physiology - Special Topic ‘The Integrative Physiology of Metabolic Down-states’ 12:634953, 2021. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.634953 
• Giroud S, Habold C, Nespolo R, Terrien J, Logan S, Henning R, Storey K. Torpor and
  hibernation: metabolic adaptations and protective mechanisms. Frontiers in Physiology
  – Special Topic ‘The Integrative Physiology of Metabolic Down-states’ 11:623665, 2020.
  https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2020.623665 
• ​Watts A.J, Logan S.M, Kübber-Heiss A, Posautz A, Stalder G, Painer J, Giroud S*,
  Storey K.B*. Regulation of peroxisomal lipid metabolism pathway during torpor in the
  garden dormouse, Eliomys quercinus. Frontiers in Physiology - Special Topic ‘The
  Integrative Physiology of Metabolic Down-states’ 11:615025, 2020.
  https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2020.615025  *equally-contributed authors
• ​Giroud S, Storey K, Nord A, Nowack J. Editorial of the Research Topic: Coping with
  Environmental Fluctuations - Ecological and Evolutionary Perspectives. Frontiers in
  Physiology - Special Topic ‘Coping with Environmental Fluctuations: Ecological and
  Evolutionary Perspectives’ 11:605186, 2020. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2020.605186 
• Ebert T, Painer J, Bergman P, Qureshi A.R, Giroud S, Stalder G, Kublickiene K, Vetter S,
  Göritz F, Fröbert O, Arnemo J.M, Zedrosser A, Redtenbacher I, Johnson R, Shiels P.G,
  Stenvinkel P. Insights in the Regulation of TMAO Production Using a Comparative
  Biomimetic Approach:  Identification of a Metabolic Switch in Hibernating Bears.
  Scientific Reports 10:20323, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-76346-1 
• Constant T, Giroud S, Viblanc V, Tissier M.L, Bergeron P, Dobson F.S, Habold C.
  Integrating extrinsic mortality risk in the adaptiveness of hibernation framework.
  Frontiers in Physiology - Special Topic ‘Coping with Environmental Fluctuations:
  Ecological and Evolutionary Perspectives’ 11: 706, 2020. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2020.00706 
• Logan S.M, Watts A.J, Posautz A, Kübber-Heiss A, Painer J, Stalder G, Giroud S*,
  Storey K.B*. The ratio of linoleic and linolenic acid in the pre-hibernation diet influences
  NFκB signaling in garden dormice during torpor. Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences 7:
  97, 2020. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmolb.2020.00097  *equally-contributed authors
• Nord A & Giroud S. Lifelong effects of thermal challenges during development in birds
  and mammals. Frontiers in Physiology - Special Topic ‘Coping with Environmental
  Fluctuations: Ecological and Evolutionary Perspectives’ 11: 419, 2020.
  https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2020.00419 
• Luu B.E, Lefai E, Giroud S, Swenson J.E, Chazarin B, Gauquelin-Koch G, Arnemo J.M,
  Evans A.L, Bertile F, Storey K.B. MicroRNAs facilitate skeletal muscle maintenance and
  metabolic suppression in hibernating brown bears. Journal of Cellular Physiology 1-10,
  2019. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcp.29294 
• Nowack J, Tarmann I§, Hoelzl F, Smith S, Giroud S*, Ruf T*. Always a price to pay:
  hibernation at low temperatures comes with a trade-off between energy savings and
  cellular damage. Biology Letters 15: 20190466, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0466  *equally-contributed authors
• Giroud S, Chery I, Bertile F, Bertrand-Michel J, Tascher G, Gauquelin-Koch G, Arnemo
  J.M, Swenson J.E, Singh N.J, Lefai E, Evans A.L, Simon C, Blanc S. Lipidomics reveal
  seasonal shifts in a large-bodied hibernator, the brown bear. Frontiers in Physiology 10:
  389, 2019. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2019.00389
• Giroud S, Evans A.L, Chery I, Bertile F, Tascher G, Bertrand-Michel J, Gauquelin-Koch
  G, Arnemo J.M, Swenson J.E, Lefai E, Blanc S, Simon C. Seasonal changes in
  eicosanoids metabolism in the brown bear. The Science of Nature 105(9-10), 2018.
  https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-018-1583-8
• Giroud S, Gerritsmann H, Stalder G, Anna Kübber-Heiss, Jae Kwak, Arnold W, Ruf T.
  Dietary lipids affect the onset of hibernation in the garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus):
  Implications for cardiac function. Frontiers in Physiology 9: 1235, 2018.
  https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2018.01235 
• Mahlert B§, Gerritsmann H, Stalder G, Ruf T, Zahariev A, Blanc S, Giroud S. Being born
  late in the active season: implications for growth, pre-hibernation fattening, energetic
  strategies and reproductive success. eLife 7: e31225, 2018.
  https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.31225 
• Nowack J, Giroud S, Arnold W, Ruf T. Muscular non-shivering thermogenesis and its
  role in the evolution of endothermy. Frontiers in Physiology - Special Topic ‘The
  Evolution of Endothermy: From Patterns to Mechanisms’ 8: 889, 2017.
  https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2017.00889 
• Williams C.T, Klaassen M, Barnes B.M, Buck C.L, Arnold W, Giroud S, Vetter S, Ruf T.
  Seasonal reproductive tactics: Annual timing and the capital to income breeder
  continuum. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B - Special theme issue:
  ‘Wild Clocks: integrating chronobiology and ecology to understand timekeeping in free-
  living animals’ 372: 20160250, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2016.0250 
• Bieber C, Cornils J.S, Hoelzl F, Giroud S, Ruf T. The costs of locomotor activity? -
  Maximum body temperatures and the use of torpor during the active season in edible
  dormice. Journal of Comparative Physiology B - Special theme issue: ‘Living in a
  Seasonal World’ 187 (5-6): 803-814, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-017-1080-y 
• Stumpfel S§, Bieber C, Ruf T, Giroud S. Differences in growth rates and pre-hibernation
  body mass gain between early and late-born juvenile garden dormice. Journal of
  Comparative Physiology B 187(1): 253-263, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-016-1017-x  
• Jastroch M*, Barrett P*, Geiser F*, Giroud S*, Heldmaier G*, Herwig A*. Seasonal
  control of energy balance: recent advances and current status. Journal of
  Neuroendocinology 28(11), 10.1111/jne.12437, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1111/jne.12437 
  *equally-contributed authors 
• Arnold W, Giroud S, Valencak T.G, Ruf T. Ecophysiology of omega fatty acids: a lid for
  each jar. Physiology 30(3): 232-240, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1152/physiol.00047.2014 
• Giroud S, Zahn S, Criscuolo F, Chery I, Blanc S, Turbill C, Ruf T. Late-born
  intermittently fasted juvenile garden dormice use torpor to grow and fatten during pre-
  hibernation: consequences for ageing processes. Proceedings of the Royal Society of
  London B 281 1797 20141131, 1471-2954, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.1131 
• Giroud S, Frare C§, Strijkstra A, Boerema A, Arnold W, Ruf T. Membrane phospholipid
  fatty acid composition regulates cardiac SERCA activity in a hibernator, the Syrian
  hamster (Mesocricetus auratus). PLoS One 8(5): e63111, 2013.
  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0063111 
• Gilbert C, McCafferty DJ, Giroud S, Ancel A, Blanc S. Private heat for public warmth:
  How huddling shapes individual thermogenic responses of rabbit pups. PLoS One 7(3):
  e33553. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033553 
• ​Giroud S, Turbill C, Ruf T. Torpor use and body mass gain during pre-hibernation in late-
  born juvenile garden dormice exposed to food shortage. In: Ruf T, Bieber C, Arnold W,
  Millesi E (eds). Living in a seasonal world: thermoregulatory and metabolic
  adaptations. Springer, Heidelberg, pp. 481-491, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28678-0_42  
• Gilbert C, McCafferty DJ, Le Maho Y, Giroud S, Blanc S, Ancel A. One for all and all
  for one: the energetic benefits of huddling in endotherms. Biological Review 85(3): 545-
  569, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-185X.2009.00115.x 
• Giroud S, Perret M, Stein P, Goudable J, Aujard F, Gilbert C, Robin JP, Le Maho Y,
  Zahariev A, Blanc S, Momken I. The grey mouse lemur uses season-dependent fat or
  protein sparing strategies to face chronic food restriction. PLoS One 5(1): e8823, 2010.
  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0008823 
• Giroud S, Perret M, Gilbert C, Zahariev A, Goudable J, Le Maho Y, Oudart H, Momken
  I, Aujard F, Blanc S. Dietary palmitate and linoleate oxidations, oxidative stress and
  DNA damage differ according to season in mouse lemurs exposed to a chronic food
  deprivation. American Journal of Physiology – Regulatory Integrative and Comparative
  Physiology 297: 950-959, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpregu.00214.2009 
• Giroud S, Perret M, Le Maho Y, Gilbert G, Blanc S. Gut hormones in relation to body
  mass and torpor patterns changes during food restriction and re-feeding in the grey mouse
  lemur. Journal of Comparative Physiology B – Biochemical Systemic and
  Environmental Physiology 179(1): 99-111, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-008-0294-4  
• Giroud S, Blanc S, Aujard F, Bertrand F, Gilbert C, Perret M. Chronic food shortage and
  seasonal modulations of daily torpor and locomotor activity in the grey mouse lemur
  (Microcebus murinus). American Journal of Physiology – Regulatory Integrative and
  Comparative Physiology 294: 1958-1967, 2008. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpregu.00794.2007 
• Giroud S, Blanc S, Perret M. Seasonal difference in energy-saving mechanisms during
  chronic food shortage in a Malagasy primate. Comparative Biochemistry and
  Physiology A – Molecular and Integrative Physiology 146(4): 79, Congress Abstract,
  2007. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2007.01.095 
• Gilbert C, Blanc S, Giroud S, Trabalon M, Le Maho Y, Perret M, Ancel A. Role of
  huddling on the energetic of growth in a newborn altricial mammal. American Journal
  of Physiology – Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology 293: 867-876.
  https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpregu.00081.2007 
• Dali-Youcef N, Mataki C, Coste A, Messaddeq N, Giroud S, Blanc S, Koehl C, Chambon
  P, Fajas L, Metzger D, Schoonjans K. Auwerx J. Adipose tissue specific inactivation of
  the retinoblastoma protein protects against diabesity due to increased energy expenditure.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104(25): 703-708, 2007.
  https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0611568104