Alice Stanton might have been born with an inclination to be a scientist; growing up in Erie, Pa., she spent her childhood exploring nature and collecting insects. But it was watching her grandmother cope with the aftermath of a stroke that cemented a desire to devote her life to research. Today, at Harvard Medical School, Stanton is working with models of the human brain that she created, which could help to develop new therapies that might someday benefit millions.

Her journey is just one of the 28 extraordinary stories featured in our inaugural class of Young American Scientists, a group of early-career researchers poised to change the world. To find these remarkable people, we asked hundreds of the world’s top scientists to tell us whom they saw as the future of their field: the up-and-comers who are innovating and making amazing discoveries and whose work may define the decades to come.

The nominees could work in academia or industry, for profit or charity, in pure research or applied product development—anywhere, as long as they were doing important science.

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We received nominations for people such as Colin Carlson, a Yale University epidemiologist running a National Science Foundation research project called Verena, which looks for emerging viral threats; Tonima Tasmin Ananna, who used the rolling blackouts of her childhood home, Bangladesh, as an opportunity to gaze at the stars and now studies black holes at Wayne State University; and Dmitrii Kochkov, an AI scientist at Google Research building innovative tools for monitoring weather.

All of our honorees share two important characteristics: they’re all starting out in their careers, and they’re all doing research right here in the U.S.

That’s not an easy job these days. Young scientists face some of the most challenging career prospects in the country’s history, defined by funding crises, brain drain, and rampant misinformation causing a public crisis of trust. So while we celebrate our future, this issue also takes an unflinching look at the threats we are facing.

In “State of American Science,” journalist Adam Rogers examines how the “existential vibe” of research is changing as federal grants are frozen and the decades-old compact between science and society is challenged. Pulitzer Prize winner Deborah Blum reminds us in “The Past Is Our Future” that science has weathered hostile political eras before, and she suggests what the future might hold.

This issue also features interviews with several leaders in today’s scientific community, who share their concerns, hopes and advice for the next generation. Most poignant is our final interview with Craig Venter, the geneticist who helped to lead the first sequencing of the human genome. Speaking just a month before his death in April, Venter remained characteristically blunt, warning that the U.S. is “shooting [itself] in the foot” by blocking international talent. Yet he remained optimistic for the future and urged young scientists to never stop taking risks.

You’ll find more optimism in “Bright Spots,” where Scientific American contributing editor Rebecca Boyle highlights fields where American discovery is still flourishing. And in “The Lab of the Future Runs Itself,” reporter Patrick Sisson explores how AI and robotics keep labs running at all hours.

There’s much more of this special report about the present and future of science at sciam.com/youngscientists. Please browse the dozens of interviews, extended profiles of our 28 honorees, and hours of video and audio you can find only there.

The Young American Scientists enterprise was produced with support from our presenting sponsor, Regeneron, and couldn’t have happened without help from the many nominating scientists who gave us their wisdom and time. My thanks to all of them and, especially, to Scientific American’s exceptional staff.