About

Alexander Zaslavsky is a Professor of Engineering and Physics at Brown University. His research interests include electronic materials and devices, quantum-effect devices, CMOS and beyond-CMOS technology. He is involved in undergraduate research and serves as a concentration advisor in Electrical Engineering. Zaslavsky has received recognition for his contributions, including the Brown University President’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Governance. His work has been recognized through awards and funding, such as the $3.4 million Army Research funds awarded to him and Xiao for cryogenic magnetic camera development. He is also among university researchers designing circuitry for agreement between NIST and Google.

Research topics

• Chemical physics
• Cancer research
• Biology
• Medicine
• Immunology
• Atomic physics
• Computational chemistry
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Genetics
• Quantum mechanics
• Physical chemistry
• Thermodynamics

Selected publications

• The hexosamine biosynthetic pathway alters the cytoskeleton to modulate cell proliferation and migration in aggressive prostate cancer

  Cell Communication and Signaling · 2026-03-28

  articleOpen access

  Castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) progresses despite androgen deprivation therapy, as cancer cells adapt to grow without testosterone, becoming more aggressive and prone to metastasis. CRPC biology complicates the development of effective therapies, posing challenges for patient care. Recent gene-expression and metabolomics studies highlight the Hexosamine Biosynthetic Pathway (HBP) as a critical player, with key components like GNPNAT1 (Glucosamine-phosphate N-acetyltransferase 1) being downregulated in CRPC. GNPNAT1 knockdown in pre-clinical models has been shown to increase growth and metastasis in CRPC tumors, though the mechanisms remain unclear.To investigate the cellular basis of these CRPC phenotypes, we generated a CRISPR-Cas9 knockout model of GNPNAT1 in 22Rv1 CRPC cells, analyzing its impact on transcriptomic and glycoproteomic profiles of cells. We find that HBP inhibition disrupts the cytoskeleton, altering mitotic progression and promoting uncontrolled growth. GNPNAT1 KO cells showed reduced levels of cytoskeletal filaments, such as actin and microtubules, leading to cell structure disorganization and chromosomal mis-segregation. GNPNAT1 inhibition also activated PI3K/AKT signaling, promoting cell proliferation, impaired cell adhesion by mis-localizing Eph Receptor B6, enhancing migration via the RhoA (Ras homolog family member A) pathway and promoting epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. These findings suggest that HBP plays a critical role in regulating CRPC cell behavior, and targeting this pathway could provide a novel therapeutic approach.

  PublisherDOI

• Preface: Calculus of variations, PDE and their Applications

  HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · 2025-03-01

  otherSenior author

  This preface is dedicated to the work of Luc Tartar.

  Publisher

• Progress towards integration of MTJ devices with cryo-CMOS readout circuitry for magnetic field sensing

  Solid-State Electronics · 2025-12-02 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• PD10-11 DIGITAL SPATIAL PROFILING REVEALS TRANSCRIPTOMIC HETEROGENEITY OF PROSTATE CANCER IN PATIENTS WITH GERMLINE MUTATIONS

  The Journal of Urology · 2025-04-08

  article
  PublisherDOI

• PD16-07 ASSESSING CAUSES OF DEATH AMONG MEN WITH RECURRENT PROSTATE CANCER

  The Journal of Urology · 2025-04-08

  article
  PublisherDOI

• PD10-05 NARROW RANGE MOLECULAR INFLUENCE OF PROSTATE TUMORS ON SURROUNDING TISSUE REVEALED BY SPATIAL GENOMICS

  The Journal of Urology · 2025-04-08

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Impact-Ionization-Based High-Endurance One-Transistor Bulk CMOS Cryogenic Memory

  IEEE Journal of the Electron Devices Society · 2025-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  This paper presents a high-endurance capacitorless one-transistor (1T) cryogenic memory, fabricated in a 180 nm bulk CMOS technology, with a high memory window of (<inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$10{^{{7}}}~I_{1}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>/<inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$I_{0}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> sense current ratio) and prolonged retention. The memory is enabled by the bistable <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$I_{D}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>–<inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$V_{G}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> transistor characteristics due to impact ionization (II) at cryogenic temperatures (T < 30 K). Focusing on critical memory reliability parameters—switching time, endurance, and retention characteristics—we present write/erase speeds down to <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\approx ~45$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ns at T < 10 K and cycling endurance surpassing <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$10^{9}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> cycles while maintaining the <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$I_{1}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>/<inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$I_{0}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> memory window. Retention times of >10 s with a 30x memory window were observed in extensive high-speed measurements. The fast switching and retention characteristics combine to yield a low power (<inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu $ </tex-math></inline-formula>W-range) candidate for local cache memory to support quantum sensing or quantum computing control circuitry. Additionally, our study outlines essential measurements crucial for exploring the viability of alternative memory solutions for low-temperature quantum sensing and computation applications.

  PublisherDOI

• Integration of MTJ devices with cryo-CMOS readout circuitry for magnetic field sensing

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• PATIENT-DERIVED RENAL CELL CANCER ORGANOIDS AS A MODEL TO ASSESS THERAPEUTIC TARGETS AND TREATMENT RESISTANCE MECHANISMS

  Urologic Oncology Seminars and Original Investigations · 2025-02-27

  article
  PublisherDOI

• High-endurance bulk CMOS one-transistor cryo-memory

  Solid-State Electronics · 2025-03-01 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• GOALI: Germanium-on-insulator tunneling transistors

  NSF · $300k · 2007–2011

• Strained Axial Si/Ge Heteronanowire Devices: From Tunneling Transistors to Optical Sources

  NSF · $369k · 2011–2016

• MRI: Acquisition of a Maskless Lithography Tool for the Brown Nanofabrication Central Facility

  NSF · $287k · 2018–2020

• Coulomb Blockade and Few-Electron Energy Spectra of Quantum Rings

  NSF · $302k · 2003–2008

Frequent coauthors

• S. Cristoloveanu

  Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

  295 shared

• C. Le Royer

  CEA LETI

  272 shared

• Jing Wan

  Shaoxing University

  240 shared

• Son T. Le

  96 shared

• William R. Patterson

  Brown University

  88 shared

• R. Iris Bahar

  Brown University

  80 shared

• Sandra Ryeom

  Columbia University

  71 shared

• Joseph L. Mundy

  Providence College

  56 shared

Education

• PhD, Electrical Engineering

  Princeton University

  1991

• AB, Physics

  Harvard College

  1986

Awards & honors

• Brown University President’s Award for Excellence in Faculty…
• Hazeltine Innovation Awards (2024)