Alexey Vikhlinin (born September 17, 1970) is a Russian-American astrophysicist notable for achievements in the astrophysics of high energy phenomenon, namely galaxy cluster cosmology[1] and the design of space-based X-ray observatories.

He was recently the Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT) Community Co-chair (along with Feryal Özel) for the Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded Large Mission Concept Study under consideration by the 2020 Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics.

His doctoral research was partly advised by celebrated astrophysicist Rashid Sunyaev.

Vikhlinin is the author of more than 200 refereed publications,[3] including several highly cited papers in the field of galaxy cluster cosmology.

[1] He is the recipient of the Zeldovich medal from International Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), the State Prize of the Russian Federation, and the Rossi Prize from the American Astronomical Society (AAS) for his work on observational cosmology and galaxy cluster physics with the Chandra X-ray Observatory.