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 CDC released new estimates showing the highly contagious delta variant now accounts for more than 51% of cases in the U.S. In some parts of the country, the strain is responsible for 80% of cases.
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More contagious than other variants, and maybe more likely to cause severe disease, Delta is spreading so fast in the U.S. it could cause another surge this summer or fall, according to new research.
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New coronavirus cases are at their lowest level since October. Some health experts think the vaccination campaign deserves credit for tamping down the U.S. outbreak. But will the downturn last?
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An international team has put human cells into monkey embryos in hopes of finding new ways to produce organs for transplantation. But some ethicists still worry about how such research could go wrong.
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COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective but don't always provide perfect protection. Some vaccinated people later exposed to the virus still get sick. Why and how often that happens is under study.
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The variant known as B.1.1.7, which is more easily spread, was first identified in England last fall. Since then, it has spread quickly in the U.S.
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The answer, experts say, depends on how Americans behave in the next several weeks and how quickly vaccines get in arms.
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Many public health experts are now increasingly optimistic about how the pandemic is playing out in the U.S. Here's what they say we can expect for the rest of 2021.
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Daily numbers of new cases are finally starting to wane, and hospitalizations are down slightly. But health care systems are still overburdened and another resurgence remains a threat.
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The new tests produce results completely at home within 15 minutes. Experts say they could be a 'game-changer' in helping people find out quickly if they need to isolate.