John-Luke Rivera, MD

A native of Central California, John-Luke Rivera was exposed to the world of Pathology very early on by his mother, a clinical laboratory scientist. When he wasn't horsing around the playground with the other kids, the young John-Luke would be swabbing it for fomites to incubate and view behind the lenses of a microscope - such was his budding fascination with the microbial world. His childhood would influence him to major in Microbiology at the University of California, Davis for undergrad and eventually move to the Chicagoland area to pursue his medical degree at Loyola Stritch School of Medicine.

On why he chose to continue his training at his alma mater for residency: "Rotating and interviewing at other pathology programs as part of the Match cycle was very eye-opening to me, as until then, it was really hard to appreciate just how special my lived experience at Loyola was without having other points of comparison. Loyola delivers a strong balance of renowned faculty, fellowship opportunities, up-to-date facilities, as well as case type and volume. What ultimately drove my decision though was the gut feeling that giving up the amazing mentorship and community I already had at Loyola Pathology to train somewhere else would have been the worst move I could possibly make."

John-Luke's subspeciality interests include forensics, surgical pathology, and (of course) microbiology. Outside of pathology, he enjoys a number of hobbies - including but not limited to: adventure eating, sartorialism, invertebrate husbandry (especially of Theraphosidae species), collaborating virtually with others in real time utilizing a block-based architecture simulation program, short film, Japanese print, and animated media, as well as cheesy and over-the-top television dramas of all languages.