Dr. Constantin "Nick" Takacs joins Tufts

Researcher pioneering development of genetic tools for Borrelia brings his skills to Tufts

Dr. Constantin “Nick” Takacs has joined the Tufts Lyme Initiative as an Assistant Professor in the Tufts School of Dental Medicine! Dr. Takacs studies Borrelia burgdorferi, its tick vector, and their interactions using genetic, imaging, and biochemical approaches. Dr. Takacs earned his Ph.D. from Rockefeller University in 2016, where he studied hepatitis C virus, lipoprotein secretion, and liver disease under Drs. Sanford M. Simon and Charles M. Rice. He subsequently conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Christine Jacobs-Wagner at Yale University, Stanford University, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. During this time, he developed innovative genetic tools for studying Borrelia burgdorferi, including a highly efficient CRISPRi-based gene expression knockdown method. He joins us from Northeastern University where he has been an Assistant Professor for the past 3 years.  We are all excited to add a laboratory of his caliber to the Tufts Lyme Initiative!