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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Pfizer-BioNTech filed for emergency use authorization with the Food and Drug Administration for a vaccine regimen for children from six months to five years old.
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University of Washington research predicts the omicron wave will infect more than 400,000 people a day in the U.S. when it crests in about six weeks.
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Scientists are projecting the surge will peak in January. Just how massive it could be depends on how quickly Americans get boosted and change behavior to slow the spread.
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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.
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Though infections are still sky-high, the U.S. may be turning a corner, according to a consortium of researchers who forecast the pandemic. And we may well be spared a winter surge.
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As the delta variant causes more vaccinated people to get "breakthrough infections," concerns are rising that even the vaccinated could develop long COVID symptoms in rare cases.
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Johnson & Johnson said that when it gave study participants a second jab after six months, their antibody levels were nine times higher than they were 28 days after a first dose of the COVID vaccine.
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The CDC information dated Thursday gives new details on this variant of the coronavirus and says the agency should "acknowledge that the war has changed." It was first reported by The Washington Post.
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With news about vaccinated people getting coronavirus infections, should you be worried? How common are breakthrough infections? Here's what scientists know and what they're trying to learn.
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The highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus is spreading fast and driving new cases and hospitalizations. Here's what you need to know to keep yourself and your kids from getting sick.