Johns Hopkins alumnus Jieneng Chen, Engr ’26 (PhD) is among the 28 early-career researchers highlighted in the inaugural list of Young American Scientists selected by Scientific American.
Researchers were nominated by leading scientists from around the world, with the final set of honorees chosen by Scientific American editors. According to the magazine’s announcement, the early-career researchers are “burgeoning luminaries in American science . . . advancing breakthroughs with real-world impact.”
Chen received his PhD from the Department of Computer Science earlier this year. Working with Bloomberg Distinguished Professors Alan Yuille and Rama Chellappa, Chen’s work focuses on artificial intelligence, computer vision, multimodality, embodied AI, and medical AI. His seminal work, TransUNet, integrated transformers—deep learning neural networks that power generative AI models—into biomedical image analysis. He has since used AI to tackle health inequities and developed the first AI model capable of diagnosing eight common cancers. He was also named a 2025 Siebel Scholar, an early-career recognition for students in bioengineering fields. Chen recently moved to Stanford University to pursue postdoctoral research.
This year’s honorees are featured in profile stories and select in-depth interviews featured in digital and print issues of Scientific America. Read the magazine’s profile of Chen here.