Rob Stein
Rob Stein is a correspondent and senior editor on NPR's science desk.
An award-winning science journalist with more than 30 years of experience, Stein mostly covers health and medicine. He tends to focus on stories that illustrate the intersection of science, health, politics, social trends, ethics, and federal science policy. He tracks genetics, stem cells, cancer research, women's health issues, and other science, medical, and health policy news.
Before NPR, Stein worked at The Washington Post for 16 years, first as the newspaper's science editor and then as a national health reporter. Earlier in his career, Stein spent about four years as an editor at NPR's science desk. Before that, he was a science reporter for United Press International (UPI) in Boston and the science editor of the international wire service in Washington.
Stein's work has been honored by many organizations, including the National Academy of Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association for Cancer Research, and the Association of Health Care Journalists. He was twice part of NPR teams that won Peabody Awards.
Stein frequently represents NPR, speaking at universities, international meetings and other venues, including the University of Cambridge in Britain, the World Conference of Science Journalists in South Korea, and the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC.
Stein is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He completed a journalism fellowship at the Harvard School of Public Health, a program in science and religion at the University of Cambridge, and a summer science writer's workshop at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass.
-
Hungarian-born biochemist Katalin Karikó and American immunologist Drew Weissman found that a chemical change to genetic code called mRNA eliminated a problematic side effect when used in vaccines. -
Public health experts are urging people to take advantage of the fact that this year, for the first time, vaccines are available for three major respiratory viruses: flu, COVID and RSV.
-
Scientists in Japan are at the forefront of one the most controversial areas of biomedical research: creating sperm and eggs in the laboratory from practically any cell in the body.
-
As COVID-19 cases rise in U.S., new boosters have started to arrive at pharmacies this week. Here's how protective the latest booster is, who should get it and how to schedule it with other vaccines.
-
A panel of doctors and scientists advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted to recommend that people 6 months of age and older get new COVID boosters this fall. -
Vaccines for a fall immunization drive against COVID-19 just got the green light from the Food and Drug Administration. The agency says the vaccines can protect people, as hospitalizations tick up. -
The latest shots could bolster immunity as a new COVID-19 wave rises, and the season for peak respiratory illnesses approaches.
-
The latest lab data suggests that a new COVID-19 booster will protect against a worrisome variant. (Story aired on All Things Considered on Sept. 5, 2023.)
-
Preliminary laboratory studies find antibodies from previous infections and vaccinations can neutralize the BA.2.86 variant. The findings bode well for new boosters on the way this fall. -
Ahead of Labor Day weekend, here's an update on COVID in the U.S. — plus a look ahead to likely FDA approval of new COVID boosters and what could be a busy fall of vaccination for flu, RSV and COVID.
