Amanda E. Nelson

Amanda E. Nelson, MD, MSCR, RhMSUS, is a Professor of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Medicine, with a joint appointment as Adjunct Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She practices in the Department of Medicine's Division of Rheumatology, Allergy, and Immunology, dedicating one day weekly to clinical work split between general rheumatology and musculoskeletal ultrasound. Her academic responsibilities include fellow education and research mentoring.

Her research focuses on osteoarthritis imaging, bone morphology contributions to OA risk, machine learning applications for complex datasets, and whole-body OA burden assessment. She co-leads the Johnston County OA Project—a 30-year community-based cohort study on OA, chronic conditions, and disability—and directs the Phenotyping and Precision Medicine Resource Core at UNC's Core Center for Clinical Research.

Dr. Nelson's publications demonstrate extensive contributions to rheumatology guidelines, genetic epidemiology, and immunology. Her recent work emphasizes osteoarthritis genomics, population health, and therapeutic innovations, with frequent collaborations in multi-institutional studies.

Awards & Honors:

• Henry Kunkel Early Career Investigator Award, ACR (2021)
• UNC School of Medicine Academy of Educators (2015-)
• ACR Marshall J. Schiff Memorial Fellow Research Award (2013)
• Young Investigator Award, OARSI (2008, 2009, 2010)
• ACR Distinguished Fellow Award (2009)

She mentors fellows and students through clinical research programs and leads several NIH-funded initiatives, including longitudinal cohort studies and precision medicine resource development. Her laboratory focuses on imaging biomarkers and machine learning applications for musculoskeletal diseases.