Alexander Russell Judkins

Alexander Russell Judkins, MD, is a Professor of Pathology (Clinical Scholar) at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, and serves as the Department Head of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. He is board-certified in anatomic pathology, neuropathology, and forensic pathology. Dr. Judkins received his Bachelor's degree Summa Cum Laude from SUNY Geneseo (1991) and his medical degree from the University of Rochester (1996). He completed residency training at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he later served as Chief Resident and completed fellowships in neuropathology and forensic pathology.

His research focuses on pediatric neuropathology, with emphasis on:

• Embryonal CNS neoplasms (especially atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors)
• Nonneoplastic developmental malformations and seizure-related neuropathology
• Digital pathology and computational integration of bioinformatics with image analysis
• Epigenetic and metabolic dysregulation in pediatric brain tumors

Dr. Judkins leads multi-institutional studies on molecular subclassification of tumors and develops AI-driven diagnostic tools for pediatric oncology.

His recent publications (2021-2025) demonstrate a strong focus on:

• Metabolic-epigenetic crosstalk in diffuse midline gliomas
• Therapeutic targeting of chromatin remodeling complexes (SWI/SNF)
• Digital pathology and radiomic classification of medulloblastomas
• Mitochondrial biology in pediatric tumors

Dr. Judkins has held editorial roles at Brain Pathology, Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology, and Acta Neuropathologica. He previously directed the Pathology Core Laboratory at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, establishing infrastructure for translational research.