Camille Testard, Harvard Junior Fellow in Catherine Dulac’s lab, has earned prestigious recognition for her innovative research in primate neuroethology, a field investigating the neural basis of social behaviors in primates. Her achievements, including the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) Patricia Goldman-Rakic International Research Prize in Neuroscience and the UZH Brain Research Award, highlight her groundbreaking work exploring the neural circuits and ecological factors shaping social behavior.
Testard, whose international background has shaped her scientific journey, is thrilled by the recognition. “Receiving this award as an international researcher means a lot to me,” she says. Her passion for exploring social behaviors in natural settings, not just in lab environments, sets her work apart in the neuroscience community. Testard’s research seamlessly integrates biology with a deep understanding of social behavior, bridging human and animal studies.
In addition to the SfN Prize, Testard’s pioneering work has garnered praise from leaders in neuroscience. Catherine Dulac, her current mentor, says, “Camille is an amazing scientist, already making waves in behavioral neuroscience. Her PhD work with Michael Platt at the University of Pennsylvania explored social behaviors in macaques through both lab and fieldwork. It’s exciting to see her take on new research directions.”
Social Behavior Under Environmental Strain
Testard’s award-winning PhD research focused on how rhesus macaques adapt their social behaviors in response to extreme environmental changes. Under Platt’s mentorship, she studied macaques affected by Hurricane Maria, which devastated their habitat on a small Puerto Rican island. “The storm drastically altered their environment, forcing the macaques to adapt their social structures,” Testard explains. “Their responses revealed deep insights into the ecological drivers of social behavior.”
Testard’s fieldwork documented how the monkeys adjusted behaviors like social support and reciprocity in the face of habitat loss. By observing free-ranging monkeys, Testard uncovered neural mechanisms that drive these behaviors—something that had never been achieved in freely moving primates. “For the first time, we studied the neural basis of socially interacting primates in a natural context,” she says. “This allowed us to capture the richness of their social interactions in a more authentic setting.” This innovative approach was captured in key papers, including publications in Nature and Science.
Her findings have transformed how scientists view the neural basis of complex social behaviors, challenging the notion that such behaviors can only be studied in controlled lab settings. “We have to appreciate that primates express a wide variety of social behaviors that closely resemble human interactions,” Testard explains. “By exploring these behaviors in a more natural context, we can gain insights that are often lost in controlled lab settings.”
Praised by the Research Community
Testard’s groundbreaking work has earned her a reputation as a rising star in neuroscience. Platt, Director of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative and Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania, describes her as “a force of nature in primate neuroscience” whose discoveries will reshape the field for years to come. Robert Seyfarth, an esteemed primatologist at UPenn, praised her for elucidating how the brain maintains social relationships over time and how responses to aggression are buffered by social allies. Seyfarth notes that Testard’s work “sets a new standard for research on brain and behavior, particularly in primate behavior.”
Lauren Brent, a professor at the University of Exeter and Testard’s PhD co-advisor, echoes these sentiments. “Camille’s PhD was a tour de force,” she says, emphasizing how Testard’s work bridged disciplines, advanced methods, and addressed longstanding questions in social neuroscience.
The Intersection of Fieldwork and Laboratory Studies
Testard’s unique approach combines field observations with lab-based experiments, enabling her to investigate social behaviors from multiple angles. “My goal is to bridge the gap between field research and lab experiments,” she says. By integrating these methods, Testard hopes to uncover how environmental challenges shape social behavior on a neural and molecular level.
Her work with free-ranging macaques provided a foundational understanding of the social dynamics in primates, which she is now applying to rodent models in Dulac’s lab. Shifting to rodents allows her to leverage cutting-edge tools to investigate the neural circuits and molecular mechanisms underlying social interactions. Her current work with African striped mice and lab mice aims to provide a broader understanding of social behavior across mammalian species.
An International Life
Testard’s international upbringing, having been born in Korea and lived in Japan, the US, Paris, Beijing, and Singapore, played a significant role in shaping her scientific curiosity. “Growing up in a multicultural environment instilled in me a curiosity about different social structures,” she reflects. Her diverse background also sparked an early interest in understanding human cognition, a field she encountered during her undergraduate economics studies at McGill University.
Though initially pursuing economics, Testard’s interest in the neural basis of behavior quickly grew. After taking a course in human cognition, she realized that her true passion lay in understanding the biological foundations of thoughts and memories. This led her to shift her focus toward neuroscience.
During her undergraduate studies, Testard gained experience working with monkeys in lab settings. However, she became frustrated with the artificial nature of the tasks the monkeys were given. “I wanted to study animals in their natural environments to better understand their true capabilities,” she says. This drive eventually took her to India, where she observed monkeys in the wild, an experience that cemented her commitment to bridging field research and neuroscience.
From Primates to Rodents
At MCB, Testard continues to break new ground in understanding the neural and ecological drivers of social behavior. While her previous research focused on primates, her current studies explore social behaviors in rodent models. “I’m following the science, not necessarily the species,” she says, aiming to integrate perspectives from across the mammalian lineage.
Dulac, who is thrilled to have Testard in her lab, believes that the future holds even greater discoveries. “Camille is spearheading exciting new directions, and I look forward to seeing her breakthroughs at the intersection of neuroscience and social ecology,” says Dulac.
When she’s not in the lab, Testard enjoys hiking, mountaineering, and organizing jam sessions, reflecting her passion for both nature and collaborative endeavors—traits that are mirrored in her scientific work. With a career already marked by impressive achievements and ambitious goals, Camille Testard is poised to continue making transformative contributions to neuroscience.
