About Dr. Thomas J. Papouin

I was born and raised in the French town of Le Mans, between a 13.6 km car race track, world heritage Chateaux of the Loire Valley and a local pork delicacy known as Rillettes du Mans. Yet, for as long as I can remember, I was far more curious and passionate about biology than about cars, castles or pâté combined. Thanks to the pedagogy and thoughtfulness of a few teachers, I trained for the equivalent of my undergrad through the very unique French “prépa” system (Classe Préparatoire aux Grandes Ecoles) in the field of natural sciences (BCPST: Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Earth Sciences) and studied Biology at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris in 2004. I graduated from the ENS, the Institut Pasteur and the University Pierre and Marie Curie with a M.S. degree in Integrative Biology & Physiology (Neuroscience major) in 2007 and decided to move south, in the historical and vineyards-surrounded town of Bordeaux. I joined the lab of Stéphane Oliet, then Assistant Professor at the Neurocenter Magendie (University of Bordeaux), to study the regulation of the N-methyl D-aspartate receptor through its co-agonist binding site. I had a very fun and prolific time with Stéphane, who is now the Head of the Neurocenter Magendie, and I obtained my Ph.D. in Neuroscience and Pharmacology in 2011. My research naturally progressed in the field of neuron-glia interactions and I emigrated in the United States in 2012 to join the lab of Philip Haydon, Professor and Chair of the Neuroscience Department at Tufts University (Boston), and a pioneer in the field of glial cells. As a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Haydon’s lab, I learned some of the major differences between the French and American systems as far as education, research and training and was able to grow as a scientist thanks to the large set of tools, and the necessary freedom and trust, available in his lab. I was promoted to Research Assistant Professor in 2016. Most importantly, during my time in Boston, I met my wife, a Michigan State fan, born and raised on a farm of the lower peninsula. We decided to stay in the United States and I was recruited to the Department of Neuroscience at Washington University School of Medicine in September 2018 as a faculty member and dad of a 9-month old.

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Selected Publications
  1. Nagai J, Yu X, Papouin T, Cheong E, Freeman MR, Monk KR, Hastings MH, Haydon PG, Rowitch D, Shaham S, Khakh BS. Behaviorally consequential astrocytic regulation of neural circuits. Neuron. 2020 Dec 31:S0896-6273(20)30967-3.
  2. Smith SE, Chen X, Brier LM, Bumstead JR, Rensing NR, Ringel AE, Shin H, Oldenborg A, Crowley JR, Bice AR, Dikranian K, Ippolito JE, Haigis MC, Papouin T, Zhao G, Wong M, Culver JP, Bonni A. Astrocyte deletion of α2-Na/K ATPase triggers episodic motor paralysis in mice via a metabolic pathway. Nat Commun. 2020 Dec 2;11(1):6164
  3. Christian DL, Wu DY, Martin JR, Moore JR, Liu YR, Clemens AW, Nettles SA, Kirkland NM, Papouin T, Hill CA, Wozniak DF, Dougherty JD, Gabel HW. DNMT3A Haploinsufficiency Results in Behavioral Deficits and Global Epigenomic Dysregulation Shared across Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Cell Rep. 2020 Nov 24;33(8):108416.
  4. Ozawa M, Davis P, Ni J, Maguire J, Papouin T, Reijmers L. Experience-dependent resonance in amygdalo-cortical circuits supports fear memory retrieval following extinction. Nat Commun. 2020 Aug 31;11(1):4358.
  5. Manno R, Witte J, Papouin T. A Modular Setup to Run a Large Line of Behavioral Testing in Mice in a Single Space. Curr Protoc Neurosci. 2020 Sep;93(1):e102. 
  6. Robin L.M., Oliveira da Cruz J.F., Langlais V.C., Martin-Fernandez M., Metna-Laurent M., Busquets-Garcia A., Bellocchio L., Soria-Gomez E., Papouin T., Varilh M., Sherwood M.W., Belluomo I., Balcells G., Matias I., Bosier, B., Drago F., Van Eeckhaut A., Smolders I., Georges F., Araque A., Panatier A., Oliet S.H.R., and Marsicano G. (2018). Astroglial CB1 Receptors Determine Synaptic D-Serine Availability to Enable Recognition Memory. Neuron 98, 1-10.
  7. *Ferreira J.S., *Papouin T., Ladépêche L., Yao A., Langlais V.C., Bouchet D., Dulong J., Mothet J.P., Sacchi S., Pollegioni L., Paoletti P., Oliet S.H.R. and Groc L. (2017). Co-agonists differentially tune GluN2B-NMDA receptor trafficking at hippocampal synapses. eLife. 6:e2549
  8. Papouin T., Henneberger C., Rusakov D.A., and Oliet S.H.R. (2017). Astroglial versus neuronal D-serine: fact checking. Trends in Neuroscience. 40, 517-520. Review
  9. Papouin T., Dunphy J., Tolman M., Foley J.C., Haydon P.G. (2017). Astrocytic control of synaptic function. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 372, 20160154. pii: 20160154. Review
  10. Papouin T., Dunphy J., Tolman M., Dineley K, and Haydon P.G. (2017). Septal cholinergic neuromodulation tunes the astrocyte-dependent gating of hippocampal NMDA receptors to wakefulness. Neuron. 94, 1-15.
  11. Papouin T., Oliet S.H.R. (2014). Organization, control and function of extrasynaptic NMDA receptors. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 369:20130601. Review
  12. Papouin T., Ladépêche L., Ruel J., Sacchi S., Labasque M., Hanini M., Groc L., Pollegioni L., Mothet J.P., Oliet S.H.R.. (2012). Synaptic and extrasynaptic NMDA receptors are gated by different endogenous coagonists. Cell. 150, 633-46.
  13. Henneberger C., Papouin T., Oliet S.H.R., Rusakov D.A. (2010). Long-term potentiation depends on release of D-serine from astrocytes. Nature. 463(7278):232-6.

Find more at: PubMed Bibliography and GoogleScholar Citations

Selected Honors and Awards

  • NARSAD Young Investigator Grant (2020-2022)
  • Named “The Let the Sunshine run Investigator” by Brain & Behavior Research Foundation donors Kathy and Curt Robbins (2020-2022)
  • McDonnell Center for Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology, small grant award (2020)
  • Washington University Center for Drug Discovery matching micro-grant (2020)
  • Whitehall Foundation Inc. Research Grant (2020-2023)
  • Human Frontier Science Program long-term Fellowship, 61 awarded worldwide (2013-2016)
  • Philippe Foundation Inc. Research Awards (2013 & 2014)
  • French Ministry of Education and Research Fellowship (2008-2011, salary & teaching allowance)
  • French Ministry of Education and Research Studentship, 21 awarded nationwide (2004-2008)

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