Allison Crha is a Legislative Assistant in the Office of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, advising on health, education, Social Security, and child care policy. Formerly, she completed her David. A Winston Health Policy Fellowship placement with the Senate Finance Committee under Chairmen Ron Wyden. Prior to the fellowship, Ally worked at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in the Maternal Child Health Bureau’s Office of Policy and Planning. She has also practiced clinically as a registered nurse working across the Trauma, Emergency Department, Critical Care, and Mental Health in rural and urban settings. 

Outside of her clinical and academic pursuits, Ally is a member of the Harvard Innovation Lab, where she runs Nurse Voices. As a passionate patient and caregiver champion, she founded Nurse Voices to educate and empower nurses as health policy advocates. Awarded the One Young World Global Health Scholar in 2019, Ally sat down with former Prime Minister Brundtland of Norway in a roundtable discussion on the future of international health care. She received her Master’s in Public Health from Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health in May 2022 with concentrations in Health Policy and Maternal Child Health. Ally received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Gonzaga University (Go Zags!) and is originally from Seattle, Washington.

Lauren Battle is a Health Policy Advisor for Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the Chairwoman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Her policy portfolio includes mental health, substance use, women’s health, and health information technology. She completed her Winston fellowship placement as a Health Policy Fellow with the HELP Committee. Prior to the fellowship, Lauren served as an Independent Consultant with Advancing Health Equity, and developed a framework to systematically evaluate medical school curriculum through an equitable lens. Lauren earned her Master’s in Public Health from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health (MPH) in April 2021. While at Columbia, Lauren led the Food Systems Justice Project, a research lab that studies how state-level law, policies, and litigation can promote racial equity in food access and ownership. She was awarded the Columbia Food Fellowship for her leadership in this work. Lauren served as President of Greater Community Reach, a student organization committed to community service, engagement, and empowerment, and also sat on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee for her academic department. Throughout her graduate degree program, Lauren held positions at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, The Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, and The Access Challenge. Lauren completed her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology at The George Washington University. She is originally from Cleveland, Ohio.

Jessica Hale is an Analyst at the Congressional Budget Office in the Budget Analysis Division's Low-Income Health Programs and Prescription Drugs Cost Estimates Unit. She previously worked as a Special Assistant to the Director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMS Innovation Center) at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Jessica completed the David A. Winston Health Policy Fellowship within the Office of Management and Budget’s Public Health Branch working on COVID-19 issues. She has also held positions at the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission (HSCRC) and RTI International. Jessica received her Master of Science in Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and, originally from Seattle, attended the University of Washington and received a Bachelor of Arts in Public Health.

Garrett Devenney currently serves as Senior Health Policy Advisor for Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. His policy portfolio includes Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) programs, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), Tribal health, and aging issues. Prior to joining the committee,

Garrett served as Health Legislative Aide to Senate Democratic Leader, Charles E. Schumer (NY) and completed his placement as a David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow with the HELP Committee. Originally from Eighty Four, Pennsylvania, Garrett received an MPH from the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University and a B.S. in Biology and Global Health Studies from Allegheny College.

Rachel Dolin, Ph.D., is Democratic Professional Staff for the Committee on Ways and Means, where she leads Medicare Fee-For-Service, health equity, and climate work on behalf of Chairman Richard E. Neal; she also co-leads the Committee-wide Racial Equity Initiative. She came to the Hill in 2017 as a David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow after having completed her Ph.D. in Health Policy and Management at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow from 2013-2017, Rachel has focused her research on the financing and delivery of quality care to Medicare beneficiaries, with a specific concentration on aging and end-of-life care. Previously, Rachel worked as a researcher for L&M Policy Research, LLC, where she contributed to evaluation and research contracts for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service, as well as other federal, state, and private-sector clients. Her work has been featured on NPR, in Health Affairs, and in other peer-reviewed journals. Rachel received her B.A., magna cum laude, in Political Science and History from Tufts University.

Olivia Pham is currently a Project Manager with Santa Clara Family Health Plan in San Jose, CA. She previously worked for the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Kaiser Family Foundation, and Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. As a former Winston fellow, Olivia completed her placement with the House Energy and Commerce Committee under the leadership of Congressman Frank Pallone. Olivia received her Bachelor of Science at the University of Oklahoma and earned her Master of Science in Health Policy and Management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Currently, Lydia serves as a Special Assistant in the Center for Program Integrity (CPI) at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Prior to CMS, Lydia was the Director of Medicaid Initiatives at Families USA leading the advocacy group's Medicaid policy analysis and advocacy agenda development at the state and federal levels. Before Families USA, Lydia worked from 2016 - 2021 in the Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office, joining the agency as a class of 2016 Presidential Management Fellow (PMF). Prior to becoming a PMF, Lydia was a 2015 David. A. Winston Health Policy Fellow with the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways & Means, Subcommittee on Health. Lydia received her Master of Public Health from the George Washington University, and Bachelor of Arts in English and Political Science from the University of Colorado Denver.

Leif Brierley, MPH, is the Director of Federal Affairs

Leif employs targeted legislative and political analysis, lobbying and advocacy activity, and strategic coalition management to enable clients to make their greatest impact on policy. His work on legislative and regulatory initiatives is critical to the provider, supplier, and consumer groups the firm serves. In his capacity as Manager of Government Relations, Leif conducts, organizes, and facilitates lobbying and related advocacy events, including congressional briefings, Capitol Hill visits, and federal agency meetings. Additionally, he manages a number of national disability and rehabilitation coalitions led by the Powers public policy and government relations group. These coalitions focus on access to rehabilitation services and devices, assistive technology, quality orthotic, and prosthetic care, and promote disability and rehabilitation research across the federal health agencies.

Previously, Leif served as a David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow (2014-15), a distinguished postgraduate fellowship in health policy awarded to two individuals annually, which includes a full-time work placement in a key health policy development setting. Leif spent his fellowship year working for U.S. Senator Michael F. Bennet. In the U.S. Senate, he covered a broad portfolio of health policy issues, including Medicare, Medicaid, providers, health care delivery systems, and child welfare through the Senate Finance Committee; and public health, infectious disease, medical research, pharmaceuticals, and medical innovation issues through the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

Leif also served as a Senior Analyst at the Advisory Board Company in Washington, DC, where he provided best practice research and strategic guidance for hospitals and health systems across the nation. Prior to his time in DC, Leif spent several years involved in the Massachusetts health policy arena, serving as a Health Policy Analyst for the Massachusetts Medical Society, the statewide professional association for physicians and medical students that owns and operates the New England Journal of Medicine.

He is a graduate of the Boston University School of Public Health, where he studied Health Policy & Management, earning a Master of Public Health degree. Currently, he is the Vice-Chair of the Board of the Society of Health Policy Young Professionals in Washington, D.C.

Yajuan Lu is a Director of Health Policy and Reimbursement at Boston Scientific. Yajuan leads the corporate HEMA strategy on Medicare reimbursement and manage company relationship with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and other external stakeholders, guide and support business unit teams to create a predictable and favorable reimbursement environment for medical device products in the US and further expand patient access to innovative technologies. Prior to BSC, Yajuan worked at Johnson and Johnson as a Director of Coverage and Reimbursement Health Policy where she had indepth experience managing both the US Medicare policies and China reimbursement policies for both medical devices and pharmaceutical products. Yajuan was a David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow for Senator Chuck Grassley, assisting with managing the health care portfolio, including entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and various issues within the jurisdiction of the Senate Finance Committee. Yajuan has a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she earned a specialty certificate in Health Law and Policy, and she earned her Bachelors degree from Beijing University Health Science Center.

Erin Richardson is currently Vice President and Associate General Counsel at the Federation of American Hospitals (FAH). Prior to joining the FAH, she served as Senior Policy Advisor with the White House Domestic Policy Council under President Obama. She also previously served as professional staff and health counsel for the Democratic staff of the Committee on Ways and Means, Health Subcommittee where she had an instrumental role in the repeal of the SGR and passage of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015. Prior to joining Ways & Means, she was the Legislative Assistant for Health for Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and a Winston Health Policy Fellow at the Committee on Ways and Means. Erin received her law degree from Columbia Law School, master’s in Bioethics from Case Western Reserve University, and bachelor’s from Wellesley College.

John Barkett is a managing director in (Berkeley Research Group, LLC) BRG’s Healthcare Transactions and Strategy practice, where he counsels health plans, hospital systems, life sciences companies, and financial institutions, among others, on a range of issues related to transactions and public policy in the healthcare space. Before joining BRG, Mr. Barkett served as the Senior Policy Advisor for Health Care Delivery System Reform on the White House Domestic Policy Council, where he covered drug pricing, Medicare Advantage and Part D, and payment reform. He also previously served on the faculty of the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, where he was an assistant scientist and Health Policy Scholar. Mr. Barkett was the senior director of Policy Affairs for a large benefits and actuarial consulting firm from 2012 to 2021. He worked for a Silicon Valley startup, the nation’s largest private Medicare exchange, before it was acquired by the consulting firm in 2012. Starting in 2009, Mr. Barkett served on the Health Subcommittee staff of the Ways and Means Committee in the House of Representatives and the Office of Health Reform in the Department of Health and Human Services, during which time he worked on the writing, passage, and implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and helped guide the implementation of all sections of the Affordable Care Act related to delivery system reform. Previously, Mr. Barkett worked for a revenue-cycle management and electronic medical record company and a Medicare Advantage plan. He also hosted The Business of Health Care, a radio show on SiriusXM, from 2015 to 2018.  Mr. Barkett earned an MBA from the Wharton School. He graduated from Harvard College.

Prior to his executive branch service, John worked at the California Hospital Association and in the legislative branch as a health policy fellow for the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee of the House of Representatives, and for the Government Accountability Office (GAO.  John’s first career was as a Paramedic-Firefighter in Atlanta and in Washington State, and he still practices emergency medicine as a volunteer Paramedic in Calvert County (MD).  John lives with his wife and two sons in College Park, MD, where he serves as a member of the non-partisan College Park City Council.  He has a Master of Public Administration and a Master of Health Administration with a focus on Health Policy from the University of Washington, and a Bachelor of Arts from Emory University.

Mayra E. Alvarez, MHA is President of The Children's Partnership, a nonprofit advocacy organization working to advance child health equity by ensuring all children have the resources and opportunities they need to grow up healthy and lead productive lives. In 2021, she was named by President Biden to the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force. In 2019, she was nominated by California Governor Gavin Newsom to serve on the First 5 California Commission and the Early Childhood Policy Council and in 2017, by then-Attorney General Xavier Becerra to serve on the California Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission (MHSOAC).

Prior to The Children’s Partnership, Ms. Alvarez completed a several-year set of assignments at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the administration of President Barack Obama. She served as the Director of the State Exchange Group for the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and led a team responsible for supporting states in the establishment of Health Insurance Marketplaces.  Previously, Ms. Alvarez served as the Associate Director for the HHS Office of Minority Health, where she led the coordination of OMH’s work related to the Affordable Care Act, community health workers, and language access. Prior to this role, Ms. Alvarez served as Director of Public Health Policy in the Office of Health Reform at HHS where she had primary oversight responsibility for coordinated and timely implementation of the public health, prevention, and health care workforce policy provisions in the Affordable Care Act.

Before joining the Obama Administration, Ms. Alvarez served as a Legislative Assistant for Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and for then-Congresswoman Hilda L. Solis (D-CA). Ms. Alvarez began her professional career as a David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow in the office of then-Senator Barack Obama (D-IL).

She completed her graduate education at the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her undergraduate education at the University of California at Berkeley. She is originally from outside San Diego, CA, and is the proud daughter of Mexican immigrants.

Diana holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and master’s degrees in public administration and public health from the University of Washington. She serves on the boards of the Greater

Seattle Chamber of Commerce and the Pacific Science Center, and is a previous 40 under 40 Honoree by the Puget Sound Business Journal .