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 Food and Drug Administration is likely to propose easing restrictions on blood donations by gay and bisexual men.
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Looming over the holiday season this winter are three viruses instead of two: RSV, COVID and flu.
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As the holiday approaches, infectious disease specialists are bracing for the possibility that big family get-togethers and travel will propel the spread of RSV, flu and COVID-19. -
Step aside, BA.5. The new variants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, appear to be among the most adept yet at evading immunity from previous infection and vaccination. -
Two subvariants that have emerged from the soup of Omicron offspring are among the most adept at evading immunity. They appear poised to become dominant in the U.S. and could fuel a new surge.
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Some hospitals are filling up as respiratory infections hits hard and early. It happening just as flu season starts up and another possible COVID-19 wave approaches.
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Biden received a new COVID booster as part of the administration's push to increase uptake, but two new research papers cast doubt on whether they are any better than the original vaccines.
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SARS-CoV-2 is evolving "rapidly," spawning one new variant after another. But omicron continues to dominate, raising new questions about how evolution of the virus is headed. -
The Food and Drug Administration authorized the new bivalent omicron boosters for kids as young as 5 years old. The shots could roll out almost immediately.
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Here we go again. The virus is starting to surge in many European countries and there are early signs a wave may be starting in the U.S. too.
