Dr. James W. Patterson is Professor of Pathology & Dermatology as well as Director of the Dermatopathology Division at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville.He received his undergraduate education at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and his medical education at the Medical College of Virginia at Richmond. Subsequently, he spent a year as an intern in General Medicine followed by 3 years of Dermatology Residency training also at the Medical College of Virginia. His Dermatopathology Fellowship training was received at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology under the direction of the renowned Drs. Elson B. Helwig and James H. Graham.
His experiences as a practitioner and teacher of Dermatology & Dermatopathology have been especially diverse. He has served at Military Hospitals (Keller Army Hospital at West Point, NY; Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center at Aurora, CO), in private practice (Richmond, VA), and at Academic Medical Centers (Medical College of Virginia in Richmond and currently at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville). He has been recognized as an outstanding teacher, practitioner, role model, and mentor by many physician trainees in Dermatopathology, Dermatology, and Pathology.
His knowledge and experience in Clinical Dermatology combined with his excellent Pathology skills have made him an esteemed Dermatopathologist who has made substantial contributions to the field of Dermatopathology.
Areas of special interest include differential diagnosis in dermatopathology, inflammatory skin disease, panniculitis, malignant melanoma, cutaneous T- cell lymphoma and other cutaneous malignancies, opportunistic infections, and immunofluorescence studies.