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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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. -
Researchers are inching closer to mass-producing eggs and sperm in the lab from ordinary human cells. The technique could provide new ways to treat infertility but also open a Pandora's box.
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An expert panel advising the Food and Drug Administration has recommended approval of a Pfizer vaccine that would be the first to protect babies against RSV.
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At least 58,000 childern younger than 5 years old are hospitalized each year with RSV infections. A Pfizer vaccine given to pregnant people could help protect their infants from severe RSV illness.
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A panel of experts voted 8-6 in favor of Food and Drug Administration approval of the first gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a fatal genetic disease.
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In a unanimous vote, 17-0, a panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration recommended that the agency approve the first over-the-counter birth control pill.
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The Food and Drug Administration is weighing whether to allow a birth control pill to be sold over the counter for the first time. An advisory committee opens a two-day hearing Tuesday.
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The CDC says the coming end of the public health emergency means the agency will be scaling back the data it routinely collects and releases about the pandemic.
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The FDA is considering greenlighting the experimental treatment under its accelerated approvals program. Some critics point out the therapy isn't yet proven to work and may be costly.
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The chances of developing lingering symptoms after COVID appears to fall sharply from the first to the second time someone gets sick, new research finds. The risk is still significant.
