Quest Diagnostics announced that Yuri A. Fesko, M.D., has been named senior vice president and chief medical officer (CMO), effective immediately.
Dr. Fesko is a seasoned healthcare executive with deep experience in business leadership, clinical practice and academic research. Since joining Quest in 2016, Dr. 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, Dr. 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 MDs and PhDs.
Board certified in oncology, hematology and internal medicine, Dr. 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 (MRD) test technology developed by Haystack Oncology, informing Quest’s decision to acquire the company in June 2023 to establish a position in the growing field of cancer recurrence testing. Dr. Fesko speaks on a range of clinical and leadership topics for several preeminent healthcare conferences, such as Clinical Biomarkers & World CDx and the Precision Medicine World Conference.
Prior to joining Quest, Dr. Fesko was medical director of oncology for Duke Cancer Center at Raleigh, N.C., 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. Dr. Fesko is also a published author of several peer reviewed publications. He sits on the board of directors of a joint venture of Quest Diagnostics and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Dr. Fesko completed his fellowship in hematology and oncology and earned his medical and bachelor's degrees from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
Dr. Fesko assumes the role following the departure of Jay Wohlgemuth, M.D., who held the role of senior vice president and CMO for 14 years before stepping down in early 2023 to pursue professional and other interests.
