Dr. Nelson is Professor Emeritus at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) and served on its faculty from 1984 until 2022. There he conducted research into the control of hand movement and taught Human Gross Anatomy. He earned a BS from Duke University in 1975 and a PhD from Vanderbilt University in 1979. He was a postdoctoral fellowship at UCSF and a Staff Fellow at NIH. He has been an IACUC Member, Chair, and IO. He served on NIH study sections and ILAR Council and is a member of the AAALAC Council. He is the SCAW Board of Trustees President.
