Elise Hammond joined the UCSF PlaySafe athletic training staff in the fall of 2008. Over her tenure with UCSF, she has worked at various schools within the SFUSD, with significant contributions at Abraham Lincoln and John O'Connell High Schools. Elise has played a crucial role in the growth of the PlaySafe Program, advocating for the vision of providing athletic trainers to active populations with limited access to healthcare resources. She has developed a referral network to ensure SFUSD student-athletes, regardless of insurance status, can access timely specialty sports medicine care. Elise has also been a key member of the PlaySafe Cardiac PPE Planning Committee since its inception, organizing athlete registration and coordinating all aspects of this major event.

Elise has a strong interest in sports concussions, leading her to serve as the Lead of the UCSF Sports Concussion Program within UCSF Sports Medicine. Since helping to launch the clinic in 2012, she has focused on triaging patients and ensuring timely access to concussion care. Elise is frequently invited to lecture on best practices for managing sports concussions and pursues continuing education annually in this field.

Before joining UCSF, Elise was a graduate assistant athletic trainer at the University of California, Berkeley, from 2005 to 2008, where she worked with football, women’s gymnastics, and track & field/cross country. She earned her bachelor's degree in Exercise and Sport Science, with an emphasis in Athletic Training and minors in Psychology and Music, from Oregon State University in 2004. Elise’s path in athletic training began as an undergraduate intern at Loyola Marymount University, where she also became a Certified EMT. She gained valuable experience with the LMU Athletic Training team and worked as an EMT with the Women of Wrestling and an ambulance company in LA County. Her passion for athletic training was solidified through an internship with the Los Angeles Avengers Arena Football Team prior to transferring to OSU.