Sylvain Giroud

Assistant Professor

Contact Information:

1326 Weston Hall
Office Phone: (906) 227-2145
sgiroud@nmu.edu

Website: The Energetics Lab

Education:

  • 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

Research Interests:

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.

Teaching:

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

Publications:

  • Johnson R.J, Painer-Gigler J, Kalgeropoulu S, Giroud S, Shiels P.G, Kanbay M., Andres-Hernando A, Rodriguez-Iturbe B, Lanaspa M.A, Stenvinkel P, Sánchez-Lozada L.G. Water Scarcity and Increasing Temperatures: How Animals Survive in Nature. Journal of Internal Medicine 0: 1-16, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1111/joim.70003
  • Thiel A, Hertel A.G, Fuchs B, Friebe A, Ahlqvist D, Randi Græsli A, Giroud S, Kindberg J, Arnemo J.M, Evans A.L. Behavioral responses of brown bears to helicopter captures. Wildlife Biology e01416, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1002/wlb3.01416
  • Mugnier M, Rauch H, Haw A, Jourdan G, Giroud S, Stalder G, Painer-Gigler J, Rocchi A, Pohlin F. Comparison of three sedation protocols in isoflurane anaesthetized garden dormice (Eliomys quercinus) undergoing laparotomy. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 56(2):410-419, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1638/2024-0043
  • Posautz A, Springler G, Kübber-Heiss A, Giroud S. First report of tumors in Garden dormice (Eliomys quercinus). Veterinary Pathology 56(1): 169-174, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1638/2023-0095
  • Ingelson-Filpula W.A, Kübber-Heiss A, Painer J, Stalder G, Hadj-Moussa H, Bertile F, Habold C, Giroud S*, Storey K.B*. Regulation of metabolism and energy-expensive processes in hibernating dormouse liver may be directed by microRNA. Cryobiology 118: 105191, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cryobiol.2024.105191  *equally contributed authors
  • Nowack J, Marshall K, Terrien T, Giroud S. Editorial: Thermoregulatory and Metabolic Adaptations in a Changing World. Journal of Thermal Biology 127, 104062, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2025.104062
  • Constant T, Dobson F.S, Giroud S*, Habold C*. Safe-periods and safe-activities: two phenological responses to mortality. Ecology and Evolution 15:e70718, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70718 *equally contributed authors
  • Redon L§, Constant T§, Smith S, Habold C, Giroud S. Understanding seasonal telomere dynamics in hibernating species. Journal of Thermal Biology - Special Issue: Thermoregulatory and Metabolic Adaptations in a Changing World; 123, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2024.103913
  • Lewis C.T.A, Melhedegaard E.G, Ognjanovic M.M, Olsen M.S, Laitila J, Seaborne R.A.E, Gronset M.N, Zhang C, Iwamoto H, Hessel A.L, Kuehn M.N, Merino C, Amigó N, Frobert O, Giroud S, Staples J.F, Goropashnaya A.V, Fedorov V.B, Barnes B.M, Toien O, Drew K.L, Sprenger R.J, Ochala J. Remodelling of skeletal muscle myosin metabolic states in hibernating mammals. eLife 13:RP94616, 2024. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.94616.3
  • Giroud S, Yamaguchi Y, Terrien J, Henning R. Editorial of the Research Topic: Torpor and Hibernation: Metabolic and Physiological Paradigms. Frontiers in Metabolic Physiology - Special Topic “Torpor and Hibernation: Metabolic and Physiological Paradigms” 15:1441872, 2024. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2024.1441872
  • Constant T, Dobson F.S, Habold C*, Giroud S*. Trade-offs in dormancy phenology in endotherms and ectotherms. eLife 2024;12:RP89644. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.89644  *equally contributed authors
  • Lalana C.G, Hoelzl F, Zahn S, Habold C, Cornils J.S, Giroud S*, Smith S*. Seasonal variations in telomerase activity and telomere dynamics in a hibernating rodent, the garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus). Frontiers in Physiology - Special Topic ‘Torpor and Hibernation: Metabolic and Physiological Paradigms’ 14:1298505, 2023. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1298505  *equally-contributed authors
  • Thiel A, Hertel A.G, Giroud S, Friebe A, Fuchs B, Kindberg J, Arnemo J.M, Evans A.L. The cost of research: Lasting effects of capture, surgery, and muscle biopsy on brown bear (Ursus arctos) movement and physiology. Animal Welfare 32, e75, 1-11, 2023 https://doi.org/10.1017/awf.2023.95
  • Haugg E, Borner J, Stalder G, Giroud S*, Herwig A*. Comparative transcriptomics of the hibernating garden dormouse hypothalamus. FEBS Open Bio 14(2), 241-257, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1002/2211-5463.13731 *equally-contributed authors
  • 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 
Dr. Sylvain Giroud