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 Novavax vaccine appears to be about 90% effective at preventing mild, moderate and severe COVID-19, Food and Drug Administration scientists say in an analysis of the company's data. -
The White House says babies, toddlers and other very young children could finally start getting vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as June 21.
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COVID-19 vaccinations for children younger than 5 could start right after the Juneteenth holiday. -
The first results from an in-depth investigation of long COVID produced provocative results. Researchers don't understand the mechanism behind the lingering symptoms but found a link with anxiety. -
A detailed study of long-COVID patients fails to find any obvious physical explanation for their lingering health problems. The findings underscore the need for doctors to go beyond routine tests.
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Pfizer and BioNTech say three shots of their low-dose pediatric COVID vaccine appears to safely stimulate the immune systems of babies, toddlers and young children to protect them against omicron.
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Three shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines for kids 6 months to under 5 prompted a strong immune response. Preliminary data suggests the vaccine is effective and safe.
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An even more contagious omicron subvariant is fueling yet another surge of infections in the U.S. The number of hospitalizations is growing.
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The virus became the third leading cause of death in the U.S., and caused so many to die in the prime of life that the country experienced the biggest drop in life expectancy since World War II. -
The Food and Drug Administration expanded authorization of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID vaccine to enable kids ages 5 to 11 who were vaccinated at least five months ago to get a third shot.
