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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Since receiving a landmark treatment with the gene-editing tool CRISPR, a sickle cell patient has the strength to care for herself and her children 鈥� while navigating the pandemic. -
The CDC combines results of a test that spots people who are actively infected with results from another one that looks for antibodies. Scientists say it could create a false picture of the pandemic. -
New estimates say the U.S. needs to triple its testing. But how much testing does each state need? Here's how states compare to each other, and to targets experts say they should hit. -
An antigen test could be quick, and much simpler and cheaper than the PCR tests now used to spot people infected with the novel coronavirus. But some scientists worry about an antigen test's accuracy. -
New research suggests the Abbott ID NOW test, which produces results in less than 15 minutes, is the most likely among common tests to reassure people they are not infected when they really are.
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Doctors used CRISPR to edit genes of cells inside a patient's eye, hoping to restore vision to a person blinded by a rare genetic disorder. A similar strategy might work for some brain diseases. -
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging Americans to prepare for the possibility of more aggressive measures to stop the new coronavirus in the United States. -
U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams issued a forceful advisory about vaping by U.S. teenagers, saying electronic cigarette use among young people has reached levels that require urgent action. -
Consumers will have a new generic alternative to the widely used 鈥� and pricey 鈥� device to counter life-threatening allergic reactions. -
After the Food and Drug Administration said that antidepressants could spur suicidal thinking in teens, doctors prescribed the drugs less often. The change may have led to more suicides.
