Quit Genius Hires Harvard-Trained, Digital Health Executive and Dual-Board Certified Assistant Professor of Medicine as Medical Director

Press Release

NEW YORK, NY, March 16, 2022Quit Genius, the world’s first digital clinic for treating multiple substance addictions, announced today that it has named Justin Yang, MD, MPH as its new Medical Director.

Dr. Yang is a Harvard-trained, dual Board-certified Assistant Professor of Medicine with more than ten years of academic and healthcare industry leadership, as well as clinical and research experience in population health and wellness with a focus in addiction medicine, evidence-based clinical strategy and digital health innovation.

Prior to joining Quit Genius, Dr. Yang was the medical director for an award-winning medication assisted treatment (MAT) program at Manet Community Health Center where he oversaw the clinical team and clinical operations across 7 clinics in the Greater Boston area. During his time at Manet, Dr. Yang received the Barbara A. Morris Award and the Edythe B. Donkin Award for his excellence in providing addiction medicine care to the community. He also served as the US Commercial Chief Medical Officer at Kaia Health, a digital health company focusing on providing digital multimodal pain management programs to members, and was the Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer at the medical device company MobioSense.

In addition to his experience in addiction care, Yang is Board-certified in occupational medicine, with expertise in helping organizations understand the impact of employee health and the consequences of an unhealthy employee population, both direct and indirect costs, to the employer. He is the Medical Director of Employee & Occupational Health at Atrius Health/ Harvard Vanguard Medical Association where he established the brand-new Employee & Occupational Health Department to protect and improve the health and wellness of 5,000+ employees.

Dr. Yang is currently a Faculty Instructor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Boston University.

“As a clinician-founded organization, we are thrilled to bring Dr. Yang on board as our Medical Director,” said Yusuf Sherwani, M.D., co-founder and CEO of Quit Genius. “His academic and hands-on work experience in addiction care as well as employee health and digital health is a tremendous asset. Coming out of the pandemic we are witnessing a mental health and addiction epidemic and a growing number of people in need of more accessible options for care.  Our digital clinic is growing quickly to meet the needs of employers and payers who are looking for safe, evidence-based options to take care of their employees and members.”

“I’ve seen first-hand how SUDs impact employees on the job, and I wanted to work with an organization that tackles the alcohol and opioid addiction crisis head-on,” said Justin Yang, MD, MPH, Medical Director at Quit Genius. “I’m excited to work with the Quit Genius team because they are dedicated to evidence-based Medication-Assisted Treatment and making addiction treatment more accessible, and look forward to working with our clients who are putting their employees’ health and safety first.”

Quit Genius delivers the industry’s most complete virtual clinical care model for addiction. The  program combines virtual behavioral therapy with approved medication and connected devices to help people overcome addiction from the comfort and privacy of their own home. To date, Quit Genius has helped more than 750,000 people improve their lives and conquer their addictions. The average success rate for people in the Quit Genius tobacco program is 52 percent, far higher than traditional methods. Members enrolled in the Quit Genius alcohol program have a 62 percent reduction in alcohol use frequency within the first 30 days of care.

Already recognized as the #1 digital clinic for substance addictions, Quit Genius grew revenue by 10x in 2021, and now partners with more than 100 employer and health plan clients, covering 2.5M lives. Its headcount grew by 4x in the past year. Quit Genius is the only such solution with 8 peer-reviewed studies and a randomized controlled trial demonstrating best-in-class outcomes.


About Pelago

Pelago partners with enterprises as the leading virtual clinic for substance use management among their employees. We are transforming substance use support – from prevention to treatment – delivering education, management skills, and opportunities for positive change to members struggling with substance use, most commonly tobacco, alcohol or opioids. Our solution gives employers the means to offer on-demand, personalized support to workers seeking to live healthier lives. Pelago’s cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and medication-assisted treatment (MAT) programs deliver convenient, accessible and effective support that seamlessly integrates with health plans, pharmacy benefit managers and wellness platforms. Tens of thousands of members enroll in the Pelago program each year, and more than 3.4 million now have access to the digital clinic.

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