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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FDA advisers vote unanimously on recommending that the agency authorize Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine boosters. The agency will consider Johnson & Johnson's booster authorization request on Friday.
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The long-awaited study finds that people who got the J&J vaccine would benefit more from getting a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine as their booster instead of another J&J shot.
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Should people who get a COVID booster get a different vaccine from their original shot? The results of a highly anticipated study suggest that in some cases the answer may be yes. -
The Food and Drug Administration has released the evidence that Moderna and Johnson & Johnson tried to win authorization for boosters the agency weighs Merck's request for a drug to treat COVID-19.
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Moderna and Johnson & Johnson say people who got COVID-19 vaccines should get additional doses to boost their protection against the delta variant. Both companies submitted evidence to the FDA.
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For the first time, scientists are reporting they restored vision to people blinded by a rare genetic disorder by infusing the revolutionary gene-editing technique directly into cells inside the body.
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In a first, doctors injected the gene-editing tool CRISPR directly into cells in patients' eyes. The experiment helped these vision-impaired patients see shapes and colors again.
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If the latest projections about the delta surge are correct, life may finally start returning to normal again in coming months.
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Walensky made a recommendation that CDC advisers rejected — giving a third shot to at-risk workers such as those in the health care industry. Her decision sides with what the FDA recommended.
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Walensky made a recommendation that CDC advisers rejected — giving a third shot to at-risk workers such as those in the health care industry. Her decision sides with what the FDA recommended.
