Dr. Charles Nelson
Chief of Adult Reconstruction, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
This year's D'Ambrosia Keynote is Dr. Charles Nelson. He will be presenting “Does value based healthcare limit joint Arthroplasty access for vulnerable patient groups?
Charles L. Nelson, MD, is the Chief of Adult Reconstruction and a Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.
Dr. Nelson graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. He completed his internship and residency in Orthopaedic Surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. He completed his internship and residency in Orthopaedic Surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. After finishing a fellowship in adult reconstructive surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery, he returned to the University of Pennsylvania where he is currently a Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Chief of Adult Reconstruction.
He was an AAOS Leadership Fellow from 2004-2005 and represented the American Orthopaedic Association as an Austrian Swiss German Traveling Fellow in 2012. He has received numerous awards – he was one of two nationally chosen recipients of the National Medical Fellowship's James H. Robinson, MD Memorial Scholarship for outstanding achievement in the study of surgery in addition to winning the Helen O. Dickens, MD award, the Charles Drew Award and William T Fitz, Jr. Awards at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. In addition, he has been elected to the Penn Medicine Academy of Master Clinicians, which represents the highest clinical honor for a Penn Medicine clinician, representing a commitment to leadership in exceptional patient care at present and in the future.
Dr. Nelson has served in volunteer and leadership positions in various medical, fraternal and charitable organizations. He is a member of the Hip Society, the Knee Society, the International Hip Society and is a founding member of the International Knee Society. He is currently on the Board of Directors for the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgeons for which he currently serves as President. He is a Past-President of the J. Robert Gladden Orthopaedic Society (JRGOS).
He serves on the membership committee of the Hip Society, and is one of the Inaugural Co-Chairs of the former Combined Hip Society and Knee Society Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, now the REAL Mentorship Committee (Representation, Engagement, Excellence and Leadership). He serves as the Treasurer for The Knee Society, and has previously served as a Director-at-Large on the Board of Directors. He has also served on several committees and advisory boards for the AAOS, AAHKS, AOA.
He is the past Deputy Editor for Adult Hip and Knee Reconstruction for the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and is the past Chair for the American Orthopaedic Associations “Emerging Leaders Forum”. Dr. Nelson has been named as a "Top Doc" by Philadelphia Magazine and Philadelphia Life Magazine on several occasions and has been selected several times to be among the Top Physicians and Surgeons in America by both peers and consumers including Best Doctors, Inc., Castle and Connolly and the Consumer's Research Council of America.
He has published more than 140 peer-reviewed manuscripts as well as several dozen book chapters. He has been a co-investigator or site principal investigator on both federally sponsored and industry-sponsored grants.
