Secaucus-based Quest Diagnostics on Wednesday said Dr. Yuri Fesko has been named senior vice president and chief medical officer, effective immediately. F
Fesko is a seasoned health care executive with deep experience in business leadership, clinical practice and academic research. Since joining Quest in 2016, Fesko has held several roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as vice president of medical affairs and senior medical director for the company’s oncology services.
As CMO, Fesko will be responsible for overseeing medical affairs, including clinical development and health plan policy support for new services and care delivery models. He will also lead scientific communications for the company’s medical team of approximately 600 M.D.s and Ph.D.s.
“Strong medical leadership is a critical enabler of our strategy to deliver solutions for the evolving needs of our customers, physicians, health systems and consumers,” Jim Davis, chairman, CEO and president, Quest Diagnostics, said. “Yuri is a proven leader who is passionate about improving physician and patient experiences with diagnostic innovations that better care, insights and affordability. Elevating Yuri to CMO ensures his deep medical expertise and caring advocacy for patients and providers infuses the decisions Quest makes at the most strategic levels.”
Board certified in oncology, hematology and internal medicine, Fesko led clinical development of several innovations for Quest, including the company’s 500-gene somatic tumor next-generation sequencing panel as well as the company’s decentralized clinical trials model. He also pioneered the company’s precision pathways model of care, which helps oncologists and pathologists at health systems speed guideline-based biomarker testing for advanced cancers. In addition, he led clinical research on the minimal residual disease test technology developed by Haystack Oncology, informing Quest’s decision to acquire the company in June to establish a position in the growing field of cancer recurrence testing.
Prior to joining Quest, Fesko was medical director of oncology for Duke Cancer Center at Raleigh, North Carolina, where he focused on genitourinary oncology and multiple myeloma both in clinical practice and for clinical trials, and chief of oncology for Wake County in North Carolina.
