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The Rural and Minority Health Research Center works to illuminate and address the health and social inequities experienced by rural and minoritized populations to promote the health of all through policy-relevant research and advocacy.
December 19, 2024 | Erin Bluvas, bluvase@sc.edu
Cassie Odahowski, a research assistant professor with the Arnold School’s Rural and Minority Health Research Center and a 2019 alumna of the Ph.D. in Epidemiology program, has been invited to join the 2025 cohort of the Rural Health Fellows Program. She is the seventh rural health researcher from the Arnold School to receive this honor in the past nine years.
“The fellows program is a prestigious one-year, intensive training program designed to develop and prepare rural health experts from across the country for leadership roles in advancing the health of rural America,” says health services policy and management (HSPM) associate professor Elizabeth Crouch, a member of the 2018 cohort and co-director for the Rural and Minority Research Center alongside fellow HSPM associate professor and 2019 cohort member Peiyin Hung. “Dr. Odahowski is a dedicated and accomplished rural health researcher, and I can’t wait to see what she continues to do with this fellowship.”
Like her predecessors, Odahowski will engage in training program designed to educate, develop and inspire a network of rural health leaders to serve in key positions within the organization, advocacy groups and legislative bodies. She is one of just 18 fellows chosen from applicants across the U.S.
Odahowski grew up in rural north Florida – making weekly two-hour round-trip visits to the nearest pediatric allergist to control her severe asthma. Reflecting on this experience, she says, “It wasn’t until I was much older that I realized how fortunate I was that my family was able to take me to these appointments each week.”
In 2014, Odahowski’s grandfather was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. The nearest treatment facility was an hour away from his home – an unwelcome reminder of her childhood asthma appointments and a painful confirmation of just how many challenges rural residents face in accessing quality health care and specialized treatment.
Realizing that many rural residents face even greater barriers to accessing health care (e.g., lack of transportation), she decided to pursue her Ph.D. to learn how to improve rural health equity. Odahowski enrolled in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics’ doctoral program at the Arnold School to learn more about rural health. The Norman J. Arnold Doctoral Fellow quickly became involved with the Rural and Minority Health Research Center, the Cancer Prevention and Control Program, and the South Carolina Office of Rural Health.
After graduating in 2019, she returned to her home state, where she worked as an assistant professor of health sciences at the University of Central Florida. Four years later, she was ready to return to USC to work with the Rural and Minority Health Research Center and the South Carolina Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare. Her current projects include examining maternal and mental health outcomes among rural and minority populations and how telehealth services have impacted such outcomes since increasing in availability since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“My goal is to become a leading investigator in rural and minority health services research and that my work will inform policy change to improve health equity,” Odahowski says. “The Rural Health Fellows program will be instrumental in my career development by connecting me with rural health experts and expanding my research collaboration network. I also look forward to becoming more involved in rural health advocacy to guide key policy decisions that impact the health of rural communities now and into the future.”
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