Upcoming Cafés

Dear Café Goers,

Our first Spring 2026 Café:

• Where: Clyde's Gastropub (on the UCCS campus)
• When: Tuesday, Feb. 24, 4:30 - 6:00 pm
• Featuring: Tara Cepon Robins, PhD, Associate Professor, Dept. of Anthropology at UCCS
• Title: Parasites in Human Evolution: How these "Old Friends" shaped our species and what that means for our health
• Abstract:  Human ancestors and infectious parasites have lived side by side for millions of years, engaged in a constant evolutionary rivalry that has ultimately shaped our species in many important ways. Which parasitic species shaped us the most? What aspects of human biology did they change? And what does it mean for our health now that many of us have lost touch with these "old friends?" Through research conducted in both the Ecuadorian Amazon and the United States, this Cafe Scientifique explores the answers to these questions to show how parasites helped make humans into what we are today. 
  

Our second Spring 2026 Café:

• Where: Clyde's Gastropub (on the UCCS campus)
• When: Tuesday, Apr. 21, 4:30 - 6:00 pm
• Featuring: Crystal M. Vander Zanden, PhD, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCCS
• Title: The “Sugar Code” in Cell Signaling
• Abstract: The "Sugar Code" is an emerging idea that cells display sugar molecules on their surface to communicate with other cells. These sugar patterns change when a cancer cell breaks away from a tumor, and there are at least 14 new drugs in clinical trials aiming to target the sugar code to control cancer cell behavior. We'll discuss the historical perspective of sugars in biochemistry and explore the new role of sugars as coding molecules that are emerging targets in cancer treatment.  

Our third Spring 2026 Café:

• Where: Clyde's Gastropub (on the UCCS campus)
• When: Tuesday, XXXX, 4:30 - 6:00 pm
• Featuring:
• Title:
• Abstract:  
  

Funding for the Colorado Springs Café Scientifique provided by the LAS Dean's Office and the UCCS Administration and Finance Team.