Pathway Policy Group is a boutique health policy firm in Washington, DC. The firm is widely respected in the halls of Congress and the Executive branch as a smart, ethical and innovative firm that treats clients with honesty and respect, and uses a no-nonsense approach to achieving their clients’ goals. Pathway Policy Group is one of the few firms in this advocacy space that can help clients successfully shape their strategy into a realistic and achievable plan.
Working alongside founder Jenn Alton is her team of advisors, all public policy professionals with decades of experience in health policy and biomedical research and development. These experts each lend their own expertise and relationships to Pathway Policy Group’s clients in a way few can. Pathway Policy Group is the go-to firm for public health advocacy, constantly finding innovative ways to bridge the gap between the public and private sectors, all in an effort to make America a healthier and safer country.
Poised to grow as a leader in the healthcare industry, Pathway Policy Group is a unique public health policy firm that gives its clients concierge service in a town filled with hundreds of “Monday through Friday 9-5” firms. They go above and beyond to succeed in Washington, DC.
LEADERSHIP
JENNIFER ALTON
PRESIDENT
Jennifer B. Alton is an expert in policy structuring, and public health advocacy, with over two decades of experience in senior corporate and federal government roles. She is widely respected in the halls of Congress, within various agencies in the Executive branch, and the biomedical community-at-large.
Jenn brings to the DC public policy space several qualities that few can or will: ethics, integrity, and being a tireless advocate for her clients. She is the go-to advocate for clients who want to zero in on an effective advocacy strategy and then implement that strategy to its completion. Jenn is one of the few professionals in the health policy space who will provide an honest, realistic and executable public policy plan.
Education and Previous Work
Jenn earned her Master of Public Policy degree from the University of California Los Angeles, Luskin School of Public Affairs, and Bachelors degree from Whittier College. She also completed Columbia Business School’s High Impact Leadership Program and Wharton Business School’s Pharmaceutical and Biotech Executives Leadership Program. Jenn is also a Center Affiliate for the Georgetown University Center for Global Health Science and Security.
Jenn worked in the biotechnology industry for many years, leading the establishment of the U.S. government affairs office for a multi-national company developing vaccines for infectious diseases as well as cancer immunotherapies. As Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs, Jenn led the company’s public policy and federal government affairs activities for eight years, including policy development, political advocacy, public affairs, alliance development, and trade association management.
Jenn also worked on Capitol Hill for several years as Public Health Policy Director with the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (Senator Richard Burr). She led the development and negotiation of policy and legislation on a variety of public health issues, and successfully shepherded the bipartisan Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act into law, transforming the country’s preparedness for health security threats and establishing two new offices at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR).
Jenn previously worked at HHS, where she was selected as a Presidential Management Fellow focused on budget formulation and legislative affairs; she received the Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service.
Jenn’s top 5 StrengthsFinder themes are: Achiever, Relator, Responsibility, Deliberative, Futuristic
TEAM MEMBERS
ELLEN P. CARLIN
VICE PRESIDENT
Ellen P. Carlin is a veterinarian and policy expert who provides subject matter expertise for clients on emerging infectious disease, zoonotic pathogens, and policy opportunities to prevent pandemics. She has worked for the U.S. government, in clinical veterinary medicine, and in field settings in Guinea, Liberia, Kenya, and Tanzania on efforts to advance human and animal health.
Since 2007, Ellen’s work has explored the epidemiological underpinnings of infectious disease and policy interventions to prevent and manage infectious outbreaks. As a consultant, Ellen supports the implementation of research projects, publishing results, developing policy priorities, and teaching the next generation of scientists and policy professionals. She is also a lecturer at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine and a research fellow with EcoHealth Alliance, and previously held a faculty position in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Georgetown University. In 2013, Ellen completed a fellowship at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Veterinary Medicine. From 2007-2013, she staffed the House Committee on Homeland Security, where she covered a broad portfolio that included medical preparedness, biodefense, and science and technology. She maintains her license to practice veterinary medicine, and has worked or volunteered as a small animal clinical veterinarian to serve her interests in animal welfare, public health, and parasitology.
Ellen received a bachelor’s of science in biology from the College of Mount Saint Vincent and a doctorate in veterinary medicine from the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine.
Ellen's top 5 StrengthsFinder themes are: Harmony, Intellection, Learner, Input, Relator
LISA K. BERNHARDT
SENIOR ADVISOR
Lisa Bernhardt has 29 years of experience in the Federal budget process and is the founder of LKB Strategies, a consulting and government relations firm providing insight, advice and policy solutions to the public health community.
Lisa spent 19 years as a Professional Staff Member and appropriations expert for the U.S. Senate Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee. She was instrumental in every aspect of the development, consideration, and passage of regular appropriation bills, emergency supplementals and disaster relief bills. Lisa’s expertise cuts across a broad range of Federal public health programs, including: disease control and prevention, substance abuse and mental health, emergency preparedness, and health services research (CDC, PHSSEF, AHRQ, SAMSHA). She managed, and provided oversight for, over $13 billion in Federal public health programs relating to chronic disease, immunizations, global health, substance abuse, mental health, bioterrorism and emergency preparedness.
Among her many accomplishments, she negotiated, and has overseen the implementation of, major public health funding initiatives such as CDC’s Global Health Security Agenda, Combating Antimicrobial Resistant Bacteria (CARB), pandemic influenza preparedness, as well as the creation of major opioid prevention and treatment programs at both CDC and SAMHSA.
She has been at the forefront of evidence-based policy; she conceived of and initiated a new funding set-aside to the Community Mental Health Block Grant for individuals with early serious mental illness utilizing research results from National Institute of Mental Health. She also oversaw creation and implementation of an evidence-based Teen Pregnancy Prevention program in conjunction with the establishment of the Office of Adolescent Health.
Prior to working in Congress, Lisa spent 10 years with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, working on budget formulation, execution and legislative proposals. She received her Master’s degree in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She graduated from Georgetown University Magna Cum Laude with a B.S. in Foreign Service.
JUSTIN YANG
SENIOR ADVISOR
Justin Yang is a Senior Advisor at Pathway Policy Group. Justin is a Maryland native and has 10+ years of experience in science and technology development for the Department of Defense and Department of Health and Human Services.
During his time in Federal service, Justin held leadership positions at the Uniformed Services University (Chief of Research Administration, Infectious Disease Clinical Research Program) and at the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), Division of Research, Innovation, and Ventures.
Justin has managed a portfolio of biomedical life science research programs ranging across many disciplines (HIV, Influenza, STI, Antimicrobials, Diagnostics, Devices, Digital Health). During his time with BARDA, Justin successfully completed 3 advanced development programs culminating with FDA approvals (Achaogen Plazomicin™, Cue Health In-Home Diagnostic, Lucira Health In-Home Diagnostic). He also worked across the interagency serving on the Operation Warp Speed and BARDA COVID-19 Incident Management Team. He represented BARDA on the National Biodefense Strategy creation and implementation and launched BARDA Ventures, the first ever venture capital investment fund out of HHS in 2021.
Justin serves as an expert in Government funding and procurement due to his background as an interagency reviewer for grants and contracts (DARPA, DTRA, NIH, BARDA). He advises companies on government and private sector financing and funding strategies, primarily helping to raise either private equity financing or successful applications to the US Government for non-dilutive support.
Justin earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from East Carolina University, College of Business, and Bachelors of Science degree from the University of Maryland.