Katja Nelson

Prof. Dr. med. dent. Katja Nelson

Katja is Dean of Dental Medicine at the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg and serves as Professor and Chair of Translational Implantology at the Medical Center – University of Freiburg. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Oral Reconstruction Foundation and currently chairs the Foundation’s Education Committee.

She completed her dental studies at the Free University of Berlin and specialized in Oral Surgery. She earned her doctoral degree (Dr. med. dent.) at the Clinic for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Charité Campus Virchow, Humboldt University, Berlin, where she also led the Department of Implantology and Special Prosthodontics before her appointment in Freiburg.

Katja has received multiple national and international awards and has authored more than 200 scientific publications, book chapters, and patents. Clinically, she focuses on the rehabilitation of patients with complex hard- and soft-tissue defects. Her research centers on implant hardware, bone biology, and the inflammatory responses around dental implants, with the goal of improving implant and graft material performance.