Charles Nelson , MS

COO

Sonoma Orthopedic
Santa Rosa, CA

Charles Nelson is a the founder and Chief Operating Officer of Sonoma Orthopedic Products, Inc., a venture-backed orthopedic device company. Sonoma, founded in 2004, focuses on providing fracture fixation devices that allow for easy repair and rapid recovery. Previously, he was a managing partner at Sonoma Holdings, LLC, a privately held intellectual and real property management company that created the platform for its spin-out business, Sonoma Orthopedic. Prior to founding Sonoma Orthopedic, Mr. Nelson held the positions of Director of Engineering and Director of Product Development at Abbott Diabetes Care and Abbott Laboratories (Now Hospira), respectively. He was also the Director of Engineering at Therasense, Inc. (now part of Abbott Diabetes Care) where he was responsible for the design team. Before Abbott, Mr. Nelson was Global Program Director and Director of Research and Developement at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where his responsibilities included research management in Europe and the United States as well as management of a $22 million budget. Prior to that, Mr. Nelson was Director of Disposable Product Development at Stryker Corporation. He is a either inventor or co-inventor on 11 issued patents in biosensors, orthopedic surgery, and laparoscopic surgery. He has presented novel materials research and product directions at scientific seminars. Mr. Nelson is a graduate of Purdue University in Chemical Engineering and holds a Master of Science Degree in Electronic Materials from Northwestern University.