Erik Nelson, RN
About
Erik Nelson leads clinical operations at Cenegenics, working with about 50 physicians across more than 25 clinics. Ten years in healthcare — most of it in longevity medicine — as a nurse, health coach, clinic builder, consultant and co-founder.
The path here wasn't a straight line. Growing up in Kasson, Minnesota, a few miles from Mayo Clinic, where his dad was a surgical assistant in neurosurgery. Years waiting tables, then the front desk and membership sales at Life Time Fitness, personal training on the side. That's where health got serious and where he learned to talk with all kinds of people.
A move to Arizona changed things. A job at Canyon State Academy — a residential campus for at-risk kids, living their day from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. — was the work that pointed toward nursing.
Nursing school at Lake Superior College in Duluth, finished with a 4.0, then a nursing assistant role on the neurosurgery floor at Essentia Health. Mayo Clinic rarely hires new graduates into the Neuro ICU. They made an exception. He gave report to the same neurosurgeons his dad had worked beside.
The ICU taught a lot. It also showed what was missing — extraordinary work getting people through a crisis, and almost nothing to keep them from ending up there in the first place.
Leaving Mayo meant joining Wild Health in Lexington, Kentucky, one of the first personalized genomic medicine companies, as a health coach focused on brain health and APOE4. About 3,000 patients, helping build the physician fellowship, training more than 50 physicians in that model of care.
From there, clinical program director for Healthy Longevity Clinic in Boca Raton — finding the space, hiring and training the team, building the membership model and patient journey. EN Longevity Consulting followed, helping clinics in Sarasota and New York City rebuild their programs and teams, alongside advisory work with an AI health lab out of Stanford and Perpetuum Health.
Human Sync came next — a concierge longevity program built around a six-system health assessment and long-term follow-up. It wound down when Cenegenics came calling, but much of the thinking about clinical systems came from building it.
At Cenegenics, the work is making care more consistent from one clinic to the next: what gets tested, how results get explained, and what happens after the visit.
Career timeline
Cenegenics
VP of Clinical Operations
Leading clinical operations for about 50 physicians across more than 25 clinics. Focus on standardizing the clinical program, patient journey and protocols, along with physician engagement, onboarding and education.
Human Sync
Co-founder
Built a concierge longevity program from scratch, including a six-system health assessment, clinical decision support, an interventions library and the full patient journey. Wound down when joining Cenegenics.
EN Longevity Consulting
Founder
Helped clinics and physicians build or rebuild their longevity programs. Each engagement started with an evaluation of the business, then a playbook carried through together over three to six months.
Extension Health
Consultant
New York City
Reorganized the team and org chart, rebuilt the membership model and client journey, and trained the clinicians.
Perpetuum Health
Clinical Advisor
Advising an AI health technology company on how clinics actually run, so the product fits the clinic instead of the other way around.
enov.one (Stanford AI health lab)
Clinical Consultant
Helped build personalized bloodwork and genetics recommendations for a clinical platform used by other practices.
Reveal Vitality
Consultant
Sarasota, Florida
Rebranded the clinic, added a gym and recovery space, and built a three-tier membership model and patient journey. The clinic hired two more physicians within six months.
Healthy Longevity Clinic
Clinical Program Director
Boca Raton, Florida
Opened the U.S. location for a Prague-based longevity clinic — finding the facility, hiring and training the team, building the membership model, programs, testing and patient journey.
Wild Health
Health Coach, Physician Training and Program Development
Lexington, Kentucky
Joined as a health coach focused on brain health and APOE4. Worked with about 3,000 patients, helped build the physician fellowship and trained more than 50 physicians in personalized genomic medicine. Also built health reports, coaching protocols and retention programs.
Mayo Clinic
Registered Nurse, Neuro ICU
Rochester, Minnesota
Cared for critically ill neurosurgical and neurological patients. Hired as a new graduate, which the unit rarely does.
Essentia Health
Nursing Assistant, Neurosurgery
Duluth, Minnesota
First hospital role, plus a Neuro ICU preceptorship during nursing school.
Lake Superior College
Nursing Degree
Duluth, Minnesota
Graduated with a 4.0 and made the Dean's List.
Canyon State Academy
Coach Counselor
Queen Creek, Arizona
Spent the full day, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., with at-risk youth on a residential campus of about 350 kids. The work that pointed toward nursing.
Views here are my own and don't represent my employer. Nothing on this site is medical advice.