Dr. Steve Nelson is the Chancellor of LSU Health New Orleans. After beginning as an English major, he graduated from State University of New York at Stony Brook. He earned his medical degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, then completed his medical internship, residencies and fellowships at Johns Hopkins Hospitals in Baltimore. 

Nelson began his career at LSU in 1984 and has been in Louisiana ever since. After years practicing as an internal medicine and critical care doctor while teaching as a professor, he became Dean of Medicine for LSU Health Sciences Center School of Medicine in New Orleans in 2007. 

In 2021, Nelson became interim chancellor of LSU Health New Orleans. In February 2024, he became the permanent chancellor. 

Nelson has authored or co-authored more than 250 peer-reviewed journal papers, seven books, 30 book chapters, and 250 scientific abstracts.

Nelson says he has two passions: writing and family. Nelson married his wife, Julie, 40 years ago. He has three children: David, Karen and Kevin. Their second son died when he was just 3 months old. 

“When you go through that process, you realize how precious every moment you have with your family counts,” Nelson said. “My passion is to do as much as I can with my family.”

Why LSU?

I wanted to make a difference. I knew if I stayed at Hopkins — regardless what level of success I had — I would not be able to change that institution.

That’s why I came to LSU. And, although I’ve had multiple opportunities to leave, that’s why I continue to stay.

When I first came to LSU, I was providing care. Half of my schedule was providing care to patients, mostly ICU and pulmonary consults. As my career evolved, I moved on to less patient care.

I continue to do my research. I’m still an NIH funded investigator, but I am more responsible for administrative functions. When I was the dean, I had a lot of influence of what was going on in the school of medicine, but not so much the other schools.

How we treat patients and how we care for patients these days is really a multidisciplinary approach — doctors and nurses and respiratory therapists and everybody else.

Being chancellor gives me the opportunity to have a broader reach and effect in terms of medical education and training.

Lots of people think, “If I get sick or ill, I can go to Texas. I can go to Alabama, UAB or Houston or Dallas.”

But if you’re in a car accident, you’re having a heart attack, you’re having a stroke or you have a serious infection, you have to go to the nearest hospital possible — and you better hope that that doctor, nurse or respiratory therapist is well trained.

It’s in the public’s best interest to make sure that we provide the best care possible to everyone. A student that I’m training may be the doctor who takes care of me when I find my way to a hospital. I take that very seriously.

How much of your discussions with deans and students is addressing Louisiana’s health needs?

I’ve recruited probably more than 500 doctors from all over the country since I’ve been at LSU.

Why am I able to recruit a large number of people here? There are two things.

People from Louisiana love Louisiana. If I can give doctors an opportunity to come back, that’s already a big thing for me. People from this state love this state more than any other place I’ve ever been.

The other thing is that they want to make a difference. Just like I said — it’s why I came here.

These are people from Harvard, Duke, Vanderbilt, Texas — outstanding facilities — who come to Louisiana because they want to make a difference. They want to have an impact on the population they serve.

Also the students that we take in, whether it’s medical school or nursing school — one of the things when we interview them is assess why they wanted to go into this career, and why they choose this path.

A big factor is their passion for taking care of those who are underserved.

What new initiatives and research at LSU are you excited about? 

The one thing that this state needs more than anything is to have a designated national cancer institute center — a cancer center.

There are none in Louisiana. There isn’t one in Mississippi, and there isn’t one in Arkansas.

In a state that has large numbers of cancer cases and poor outcomes because of delays in diagnosis and access to therapy, this will be transformative. This is something that’s been a passion of mine for over a decade.

Other people now have realized how important this is, and we’ve all worked together now to work towards this goal — from Gov. Jeff Landry, Gov. John Bel Edwards, Sen. Cassidy, Sen. Kennedy and more. 

It’s probably going to take five to seven years to get there, but it’s a place worth going. This is what we have to do to improve health care.

When you get an NCI designation, like Houston at MD Anderson and Alabama at UAB, all levels of care increase as well. All boats rise, and it provides better care for everybody.

It’s estimated that several thousand patients each year leave Louisiana to get cancer care. That’s not reasonable. You shouldn’t have to leave home to get cancer care, and not everybody can afford that.

That is the highest priority to me.

How has technology changed how you work? Has it stayed the same?

Because I’m intensive care doctor — and it’s all machines and electronics and lines and breast purchasers and buzzers and bells — a person asked me:

“There’s so much technology here. It’s really so overwhelming. What’s your favorite piece of technology?”

I said the stethoscope.

All of the technology sits between you and the patient. But when I put the stethoscope on that person’s chest with my hand, I connect with them as a patient. I can hear their heartbeat.

It’s so easy to distance yourself. When you go to a doctor now, chances are you’re sitting there and they’re in front of a computer.

Sometimes technology — while it can help you immensely — disconnects you from the patient.

It’s really that bond with the patient that’s so extraordinary. That’s so special in medicine and health. I don’t think that’s anywhere else.

Patients will tell you things they won’t tell anybody else. It’s like a sacred bond. Sometimes I think technology somehow doesn’t allow that to come to fruition. I think that’s not good.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.