John Wigneswaran
John Wigneswaran, MD, (Wig) is Optum Rx's chief clinical officer, overseeing pharmacy benefit clinical operations for its commercial, health plan, government, and union clients, clinical product development, drug trends, and specialty medication strategy. He currently serves on the National Kidney Foundation's board of directors.
He joined Optum in 2024 from Walmart, where he served as chief medical officer leading safety, quality, and training; the Walmart Healthcare Research Institute; HIV and insulin franchises; clinical program development; and medical affairs. Prior to that, he held a variety of roles in the pharmaceutical, medical device, pharmacy benefit management, and health-care services industries, including Express Scripts/Cigna, DaVita, Fresenius Medical Care; Gambro, Nephroceuticals, and Johnson & Johnson. He has over a decade of clinical experience as a practicing nephrologist and was a renal fellowship preceptor in the Division of Nephrology at Rhode Island Hospital/Brown University.
Wig received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University, attended medical school at the Tufts University School of Medicine, and completed his internal medicine residency at Rhode Island Hospital/Brown University and nephrology fellowship at New York-Presbyterian/Weil Cornell Medical Center. He received his MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management. Wig currently resides in Boston, MA.