May 13, 2026 | Erin Bluvas, bluvase@sc.edu

Rachel Gressick first discovered that reproductive health could be political when she was growing up in small town outside of Louisville, Kentucky. As early as middle school, she began writing about and debating health-related proposals through her participation in Kentucky’s Model Congress and United Nations.

Gressick can clearly recall when her state’s legislature proposed a trigger ban on abortion during her sophomore year of high school. The law was later passed and enacted after Roe v. Wade was overturned.

“I attended the house committee hearing, listening as health care professionals, community leaders and women with very personal stories spoke on each side of the aisle,” she says. “This experience stuck with me, and every time reproductive health is mentioned in the news or in political debates, I consider the factors that could have influenced each argument. As the political and policy environment has become more turbulent, I feel motivated to study reproductive health behavior and learn to become a better advocate for reproductive justice.”

After studying public health and economics at the University of Kentucky – where she gained research experience contributing to an NIH-funded study focused on addiction treatment services – Gressick decided to pursue a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree to continue learning about health behavior research. She chose the Arnold School’s MPH in Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior (HPEB) because it offered top-notch resources, opportunities and mentorship at an R1 institution.

The Ann Cassidy Endowed Fellow found a mentor in HPEB assistant professor Marta Bornstein, whose research interests in sexual and reproductive health, including fertility, infertility, contraceptive use and abortion, overlapped with Gressick’s. For the past 18 months, they have been working together to better understand fertility care decision-making among sexual and gender minority adults.

“Through this study, I have had the opportunity to learn from Dr. Bornstein about in-depth interviewing techniques, participant recruitment and qualitative data analysis,” says Gressick, who plans to continue this work as a student in the Ph.D. in HPEB program. “I am immensely thankful for her mentorship and for her continued support as my advisor while I further my education in the doctoral program.”

Having grown up in the South, Gressick is particularly interested in these areas of research within the context of the Southeastern United States due to the cultural and political influences – as well as their consequences – within the region. With plans to advance reproductive health and justice by working at a government health agency or nonprofit organization, she believes that her training at USC will prepare her to inform evidence-based public health policies and programs.

Signing up for several more years at USC was an easy decision as Gressick has always loved SEC campus culture – from sporting events to Greek Life, which she now gives back to as an advisor – and the opportunity to live in the state’s capital city.

“There is something special about such a large student body and alumni network coming together to support our teams, whether it’s women’s basketball at Colonial Life Arena or football at Williams-Brice Stadium,” she says. “Beyond the campus environment, I have enjoyed living in Columbia because of the opportunities to learn and engage with local culture, like visiting the Columbia Museum of Art, which has an impressive permanent collection and a diverse selection of rotating exhibitions.”

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