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.
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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.)
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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.
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In July, coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and emergency room visits have inched up. Recent summers have seen a bump in COVID-19. This year's rise looks modest so far. -
COVID infections, hospitalizations and emergency room visits appear to have ticked up for the first time in 2023.
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New companies are working to commercialize in vitro gametogenesis, or IVG, a technology that could make human eggs and sperm in the lab from any cell in the body. -
Companies are racing to accelerate and commercialize in-vitro gametogenesis, or IVG, which would make human eggs and sperm in the lab from any cell in the body containing anyone's DNA.
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The Food and Drug Administration approved the first gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, but limited access to those ages four and five. -
Researchers are inching closer to creating human eggs and sperm in the lab that carry a full complement of anyone's DNA. It could revolutionize fertility treatment and raises huge ethical questions.
