The Young American Scientists

American science is at a crossroads, but these extraordinary people, with their passion for knowledge and their dedication to our competitive future, are building its next chapter.Read more about how we chose the honorees.

Presenting Sponsor

Regeneron is a leading biotechnology company that invents, develops and delivers life-transforming medicines for serious diseases. Founded and led by physician-scientists, Regeneron’s unique ability to repeatedly translate science into medicine has led to numerous approved treatments and product candidates in development. Learn more about Regeneron’s innovative approach at www.Regeneron.com.

Profiles Features Icons

Features

Conceptual art illustrating the state of American science. A large hand removes bricks from a Jenga-style tower supporting individuals and a microscope.

America’s compact between science and politics is broken

Adam Rogers

Collage style illustration by Max-o-matic showing different areas of science, government buildings, data samples and maps.

These young scientists are on our radar

Megha Satyanarayana

Collage style illustration by Max-o-matic showing different areas of science.

Alan Lightman on his childhood in science

Alan Lightman

Illustration of an individual in a lab coat with a beaker containing a glowing liquid. The individual is ascending a DNA structure staircase. Using the glowing beaker as a guiding light, past newspaper clippings on a wall.

Science is under pressure again. Here’s what that means for young researchers

Deborah Blum

Stylized illustration by Olga Aleksandrova depicting scientists looks at world maps, photos of cities and stamps. Aiming to underscore the appeal of jobs outside of the United States.

U.S. scientists are being lured abroad—and they aren't looking back

Sarah Scoles

Vera C. Rubin Observatory in the foreground, against a rose-gold sky.

Inside U.S. labs at a moment of fear—and unexpected promise

Rebecca Boyle

Distrust in science thrives on dangerous stereotypes

Dava Sobel

Collage illustration showing the perils of funding in science and including portraits of two individuals mentioned in the article. Illustration by Max-o-matic and photographs by Emily Butler Photography and Getty Images.

Why U.S. science funding needs reform

Dan Vergano

A large white robotic arm works inside a glass enclosure, surrounded by trays of capped sample jars.

Autonomous labs are running science experiments 24/7

Patrick Sisson

Portrait photograph of Adam Bowman, Chee-Huat Linus Eng, Jenny Bergner, Kaiyi Jiang, Christina V. Theodoris, Lvmin Zhang, Steven Chavez and Dmitrii Kochkov.

How we chose the 2026 Young American Scientists

Ari Sen

Detail of a chart with dots and error range bars. A U.S. label is associated with a pair of dots that show a drop in value.

See how academic freedom is changing around the world

Jen Christiansen

Cover of the July/August issue of Scientific American, featuring a colorful collage of people around the branding of The Young American Scientists, against an orange background.

Science’s rising stars

David M. Ewalt

Portrait photograph of Erini Lambrides taken by Jeffery DelViscio

How an aspiring actress from Brooklyn stumbled into an astrophysics career at NASA

Rachel Feltman, Sushmita Pathak, Alex Sugiura

Supporting Sponsor

Produced with support from The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.

Credits

Edited by David M. Ewalt, Megha Satyanarayana, Ari Sen
Additional Editing: Jeanna Bryner, Seth Fletcher, Clara Moskowitz, Eric Sullivan, Kate Wong
Copy: Jeniffer Hackett, Maria-Christina Keller, Emily Makowski, Angelique Rondeau, Aaron Shattuck, Kenneth Silber
Production: Silvia De Santis, Richard Hunt
Art Direction: Maria Amador
Photo Direction: Lauren Morgan
Multimedia: Jeffery DelViscio, Rachel Feltman, Kelso Harper, Marta Hill, Carin Leong, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak
Marketing & Engagement: Cynthia Atkinson, Sunya Bhutta, Asia Fuller, Charlotte Hartwell
Graphic Design: Ryan Reid
Product: Kenneth Abad, Isabella Bruni, Jason Goldstein, Ian Kelly, Miguel Olivares
Photographs: Christie Hemm Klok, Tony Luong
Video Editing: Naeem Amarsy, Lucie McCormick, Kylie Murphy
Portrait illustrations: Jessine Hein
Animations: Max-o-Matic
Special thanks to the Exploratorium, San Francisco and the Museum of Science, Boston

The Young American Scientists

Profiles

Tonima Tasmin Ananna

Allie Balter-Kennedy

Samagya Banskota

Jenny Bergner

Adam Bowman

Colin Carlson

Steven Chavez

Jieneng Chen

Kauê M. Costa

Dane deQuilettes

Chee-Huat Linus Eng

Emily Finn

Jaye Gardiner

Trevor GrandPre

Anna Ho

Kaiyi Jiang

JianJun Jin

Dmitrii Kochkov

Mikhail Kolmogorov

Erini Lambrides

Armita Manafzadeh

Tixiao Shan

Alice Stanton

Christina V. Theodoris

Features

America’s compact between science and politics is broken

These young scientists are on our radar

Alan Lightman on his childhood in science

Science is under pressure again. Here’s what that means for young researchers

U.S. scientists are being lured abroad—and they aren't looking back

Inside U.S. labs at a moment of fear—and unexpected promise

Distrust in science thrives on dangerous stereotypes

Why U.S. science funding needs reform

Autonomous labs are running science experiments 24/7

How we chose the 2026 Young American Scientists

See how academic freedom is changing around the world

Science’s rising stars

How an aspiring actress from Brooklyn stumbled into an astrophysics career at NASA

Icons

Craig Venter

Atul Gawande

Timnit Gebru

Elizabeth Blackburn

Mark Kelly

Anthony Fauci

Lucy Jones

Michael E. Mann

Bill Foster

Ted Budd

Feng Zhang

James Manyika

Sally Kornbluth

Max Hodak

Randy Schekman

Fred Ramsdell

Geoffrey Hinton

Gerbrand Ceder

Kim Budil

Robert Metcalfe

Naomi Oreskes

Darío Gil

Aviv Regev

Wayne A. I. Frederick

Supporting Sponsor

Credits