René Castelein is professor of orthopedic surgery and chairman of the department of orthopedic surgery at the University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands.

He trained as a general orthopedic surgeon in the Netherlands but was also formed by a fellowship at the the Alfred I du Pont Hospital for Children (Head at that time: Dr. Dean MacEwen), in Wilmington, Delaware. He started his professional life in general practice, but since joining the academic practice in Utrecht, has mostly focused on spinal deformity, both clinically and scientifically, especially in the field of etio-pathogenesis of idiopathic scoliosis.

He has published over 150 scientific peer reviewed papers, a number of book chapters, has supervised around 30 PhD Theses and presented Key Note Lectures, mostly on scoliosis, at international society meetings. He has been a visiting professor at a number of prestigious international universities, has been the president of the  Nordic Spinal Deformities Society (NSDS), of the International Research Society of Spinal Deformities (IRSSD), holds committee positions in the Scoliosis Research Society, is a board member of the International Group for Advancement in Spinal Science (IGASS) and was the vice president and scientific secretary of the Dutch Orthopaedic Society.

He is a member of, and has received research support from, a number of international scientific societies like SRS, Eurospine, AO-Spine, and the Fondation Yves Cotrel.