John P. Atkinson

John P. Atkinson is currently Samuel B. Grant Professor of Medicine and holds a joint Professorship in Molecular Microbiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He also serves as Director of the Retinal vasculopathy with cerebral leukoencephalopathy (RVCL) Research Center.  Retinal vasculopathy with cerebral leukoencephalopathy and systemic manifestations (RVCL-S) is an ultra-rare autosomomal dominant genetic disease that causes progressive loss of the microvasculature. The goal of his research effort is to increase our understanding of the origins of autoimmunity and to discover a treatment for RVCL.

Established in 2016, the RVCL-S Research Center at Washington University is coordinating global research, providing comprehensive and multidisciplinary patient care, and initiating clinical studies and drug trials. 

Atkinson's discoveries regarding complement and autoimmunity provide the basis for understanding the pathogenesis of diverse diseases. He predicted and established that certain membrane-associated complement binding proteins are regulators of complement activation (RCA). These discoveries and others contribute to a better understanding of human health and disease.

He received his B.A. and M.D. degrees from the University of Kansas. His training in internal medicine was at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the National Institutes of Health.