Dana Hammerstrom

Dana Hammerstrom is the Director of Community Engagement at Scleroderma Kids Alliance. Dana grew up in the Bay Area, and is a proud third-generation Californian. 

She was diagnosed with linear scleroderma and morphea at age five, and was treated across the Bay Area for most of her childhood. After one relapse and years of medication, Dana is healthy, and no longer struggles with scleroderma. Healing from chronic illness is not linear, though, and the next step in that journey is the Scleroderma Kids Alliance. Dana wants to make positive change in the community that she and her family didn’t find when she was going through treatment over a decade ago. 

Dana graduated from the University of Southern California, where she studied Journalism at the Annenberg School of Communication. For her final Capstone project, Dana dove into the subsequent PTSD of chronic illness. That’s how she got connected to Karen, and bonded over the constant struggles — both internal and external — that come with chronic illness. 

Dana is currently a TV News Producer at WBIR Channel 10 in Knoxville, Tennessee. She enjoys cooking, nature walks and learning new Southern slang.