In 1987 he obtained his MSc in human movement science and his MD at the Free University of Amsterdam, and in 1991 received his PhD for a thesis on drug resistance in leukemia. After finishing his training in pediatrics in 1995, he received a clinical fellowship in pediatric oncology from the Dutch Cancer Society. He has worked as Head of Pediatric Oncology/Hematology at the Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital in Rotterdam, and was a full professor in Pediatric Oncology at Erasmus University Rotterdam from 2000 to 2017. Since 2017 he has been a full professor in Pediatric Oncology at the University of Utrecht. Rob Pieters is the initiator and one of the founders of the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology. This national center merged all expertise from all the former childhood cancer centers in the Netherlands, thereby establishing the largest center in Europe for the treatment of, and research into, childhood cancer.

Rob Pieters’ research is focused on the development of personalized therapies for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). He chairs and/or is a member of many boards of international childhood cancer study groups and advisory boards of international institutes and organizations in the field of cancer. In 2018 he received a Royal knighthood decoration as Officer in the Order of Oranje Nassau for his achievements for children with cancer. Rob Pieters has published more than 600 book chapters and papers in peer-reviewed journals, has supervised more than 50 PhD students, and is a frequent speaker at international congresses.