Pedro Ruivo

Pedro Ruivo is a board-certified veterinary comparative pathologist (DACVP) and Head of Experimental Animal Pathology at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI), with over eight years of experience in veterinary experimental and comparative pathology and preclinical models of human disease.

After graduating in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Lisbon, Pedro trained at the Laboratory of Comparative Pathology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre before joining the Instituto de Medicina Molecular (now GIMM) in Lisbon as a junior pathologist. In 2021, he moved to California to undertake a combined residency and fellowship in Veterinary Anatomic Pathology and Laboratory Animal Pathology at the UC Davis Comparative Pathology Laboratory and California National Primate Research Center, becoming DACVP-certified in 2023. He subsequently served as Health Sciences Clinical Assistant Professor and Comparative Pathologist at UC Davis, supporting investigators across multiple University of California campuses and industry partners, before joining the NKI in 2026.

His expertise spans experimental study design, morphologic phenotyping, and the pathological characterization of complex preclinical models ( including GEMMs, immunodeficient and humanized mice), and models of cellular immunotherapy (CAR T, NK cell, and related therapies). Further areas of specialization include geropathology, non-human primate pathology, and health surveillance. Pedro works closely with investigators to ensure pathological findings are interpreted in the context of the scientific question at hand.