About Us | IIAN

Our Story

Invisible Illness Awareness Network (IIAN) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Stephanie Miller and Sarah Hammes, who met at a Dysautonomia International Conference. After facing significant diagnostic delays, we decided to take action.

In 2021, we launched Invisible Illness Awareness at Loyola (IIAL), a registered student organization at Loyola University Chicago. We created a program that offered presentations on various invisible illnesses, followed by speaker sessions featuring patients, caregivers, and medical professionals. These meetings gave students the chance to learn, connect, and advocate together.

What began as a single campus initiative is now growing into a nationwide movement. IIAN has spread this program to 5 other affiliate organizations at institutions across the United States and is continuing to grow. We are currently working with students around the country to create more affiliates.

We also want to spread awareness outside of the student population by working with companies and organizations whose staff could benefit from learning the information in our program. We can present on topics including invisible illness, Disabilities, accessibility, accommodations, and more upon request. If your company or organization is interested in hosting a presentation or event, please email us at Info@IIANetwork.org.

This organization could not run successfully with just Sarah and Stephanie; each of our board members, committee members and volunteers have talents and experiences that make our organization impactful and important. Advocating for chronically ill, invisibly ill, and Disabled people is essential, especially in a world with COVID-19 where many more have found themselves in these communities.

Join us as we embark on a journey of making the world more accepting and accessible for individuals living with invisible illnesses. Together, we can transform lives, inspire change, and raise awareness of these often-overlooked conditions.

Meet the Team!

Co-President & Co-Founder

Stephanie Miller

Hi! My name is Stephanie Miller. I graduated from Loyola University Chicago with an Honors degree in Biology from the College of Arts and Sciences in May of 2023. Besides my obvious passion for education involving invisible illnesses, I love photography (especially concert, sports, and portrait photography) and have been doing it consistently since the age of 14. I have multiple chronic illnesses including POTS and Endometriosis, and it took me 4-8 years (depending on the condition) to finally get help. By creating an organization like IIAN, my hope is to lower diagnostic delays for patients and to provide a community of people to support each other while waiting to get the help they deserve. My goal is to become a physician, and I will stop at nothing to achieve that and continue to spread awareness about invisible, chronic conditions to help as many people as possible. I would have loved to find an organization like this when I was struggling, and I know we will make a lasting impact on the invisibly ill community.

Co-President & Co-Founder

Sarah Hammes

Hey! My name is Sarah Hammes, I am currently working on my bachelor's degree at Arizona State University Online, I am majoring in Disability Studies. Even though I did not attend Loyola, I helped IIAL with things behind the scenes. I love animals, Star Trek, science, space, and crafting. I was first diagnosed with chronic headaches and migraines at the age of 13. I was later diagnosed with POTS, MCAS, HSD, and more. Since then, I have been passionate about raising awareness for invisible illnesses. My hope is that future patients won't have to experience the same medical gaslighting and mistreatment that I have experienced. With POTS, I was lucky to be diagnosed within a few months because my pediatrician had recently gone to a talk on the subject. This is not the case for most people, as the average diagnostic delay for POTS is 24 months. I hope all future doctors are taught about these conditions, so no one has to wait that long for a diagnosis.

Advocacy Director

Alyssa Spunder

Hi! My name is Alyssa Spunder, I graduated from Loyola University Chicago in December 2022 with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. I love reading, baking, collecting vinyl records, and learning about anything medical or science-related. Like many of our other board members, I have multiple chronic illnesses varying from POTS, small fiber neuropathy, fibromyalgia, and more. Receiving diagnoses has taken roughly 5 years but it is an ongoing process to find treatments that work best for me. My future goal is to become a physician while continuing to educate community members and medical professionals on different chronic and/or invisible illnesses, better ways of advocating for patients, and being aware of the connection between physical and mental health.

Director of Education

Prabhnoor Kaur

Hi! My name is Prabhnoor Kaur. I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2022 with a degree in Neuroscience. In my free time, I love attending dance classes, curating music playlists, and spending time with family and friends. I am passionate about raising awareness of chronic illness with the hope of increasing access to diagnosis and treatment. My goal is to become a physician and employ health education to shed light on underrepresented medical conditions. IIAN’s specific mission is incredibly important to me, as I hope to use knowledge about conditions like autoimmune and mental health disorders to advocate for patients one day.

Secretary

Wynne Edelman

Hello, I'm Wynne Edelman. After obtaining my MBA, I spent my career in management positions in a number of large corporations, working in or with every department. My main focus was in IT and Project Management, but was also involved in Strategic Planning for a number of organizations. Among the many have volunteer activities I have participated in was 20 plus years on the Board of the county's Technical Schools. Like the others involved in this organization, I experienced medical gaslighting and saw the effects of people being told their symptoms are in their head rather than getting quick, appropriate treatment. Doctors and the general public need education to improve the health of this country. The general public’s image of the chronically ill needs to change from thinking folks are lazy or less than. As humans, we need to decrease our judgementalism rather than assuming people are faking because they “look fine.”

Treasurer

Jeff Miller

Hi, I am Jeff Miller and I’m honored to be a part of this organization. Stephanie is my daughter and they invited me to be a member of the board of directors. How could I say no, given how hard they have worked over the last few years to make this organization a reality? My professional background lends itself nicely to helping provide direction for IIAN. I have over 30 years of prior professional experience as a CPA and attorney. Although I currently am working full-time for another company, I have worked with some other nonprofit organizations and have a broad understanding of tax and legal matters. I am determined to help IIAN succeed. No one should have to go through dozens of doctor appointments prolonged over several years to receive an accurate diagnosis or help like Stephanie and Sarah did. IIAN and I are committed to making sure we do everything in our power to not let that happen unnecessarily to others.

Our Story

Meet the Team!

Co-President & Co-Founder

Stephanie Miller

Co-President & Co-Founder

Sarah Hammes

Advocacy Director

Alyssa Spunder

Director of Education

Prabhnoor Kaur

Secretary

Wynne Edelman

Treasurer

Jeff Miller

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