Rutger Jan Nievelstein received his MD from the Leiden University (NL) in 1993. He defended his PhD thesis entitled “The caudal regression syndrome and anorectal malformations. Magnetic resonance imaging and embryological studies” (cum laude) in 1998 at the Free University, Amsterdam (NL), and completed his Residency in Radiology at the Free University Medical Center, Amsterdam (NL) in 1999.  After a 1 year Fellowship in Pediatric Radiology at the Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, Utrecht (NL) he became a full staff member of the Department of Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center Utrecht & Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital Utrecht (NL), and from 2014 onwards also at the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht (NL). He was the director of the local residency program in Radiology in Utrecht from 2013-2022 and was appointed Full Professor in Pediatric Radiology in 2022.

Within the field of pediatric radiology his special interests are congenital anomalies and genetic disorders (including skeletal dysplasias), child abuse, neuroradiology, oncology (including early and late disease and therapy-related effects), and radiation protection. He is involved in many multidisciplinary research projects and is the principal investigator of the research line “Advanced imaging techniques in pediatric malignant lymphoma”. In addition to the evaluation and introduction of existing and new innovative imaging techniques in Pediatric Radiology, his research focuses on the role of imaging in the detection of early and late disease and therapy-related side effects, surveillance, and the assessment of normal and abnormal development. He has (co-)authored over 200 publications in distinguished peer-reviewed national but mostly international scientific journals, contributed to several book chapters, and organized several international scientific and educational meetings, including ESPR2014, ECPR2017, and ECPR2019. He has been and still is an active member of numerous national and international Boards and Committees focused on Pediatric Radiology and Education. In 2019 he was awarded the Honorary Membership of the European Society of Paediatric Radiology (ESPR).

2019 - Honorary Member, European Society of Paediatric Radiology (ESPR).