Rob Stein Rob Stein is a Correspondent and Senior Editor on NPR's Science Desk.
Rob Stein, photographed for NPR, 22 January 2020, in Washington DC.
Stories By

Rob Stein

Mike Morgan/NPR
Rob Stein, photographed for NPR, 22 January 2020, in Washington DC.
Mike Morgan/NPR

Rob Stein

Correspondent and Senior Editor, Science Desk

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 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'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 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.

Story Archive

Saturday

A clinician prepares cells for in vitro fertilization, or IVF, the treatment for infertility. In the future, it could be joined by IVG, in vitro gametogenesis, a new process that could turn any cell first into a stem cell and then into a sperm or egg cell. Lluis Gene/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Lluis Gene/AFP via Getty Images

Creating a sperm or egg from any cell? Reproduction revolution on the horizon

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Thursday

Scientists near a breakthrough that could revolutionize human reproduction

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Friday

Advisers to the FDA support approval of an RSV vaccine to protect infants

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Thursday

The first vaccine to protect infants from respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, moved a step toward approval by the Food and Drug Administration with positive votes Thursday from a panel of experts. Kateryna Kon/Getty Images/Science Photo Library hide caption

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Kateryna Kon/Getty Images/Science Photo Library

FDA advisers support approval of RSV vaccine to protect infants

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Friday

In a close vote, advisers to the Food and Drug Administration recommended approval of a gene therapy for muscular dystrophy developed by Sarepta Therapeutics. Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images hide caption

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Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images

FDA advisers narrowly back first gene therapy for muscular dystrophy

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Wednesday

An advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration supported drugmaker Perrigo's application to sell the oral contraceptive Opill without a prescription. Perrigo hide caption

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Perrigo

Advisers to the FDA back first over-the-counter birth control pill

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Tuesday

Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration will make a recommendation about whether the agency should approve the first over-the-counter birth control pill in the U.S. Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images hide caption

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Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images

The FDA considers first birth control pill without a prescription

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Friday

Tuesday

Susan and Chris Finazzo have enrolled their sons Dylan and Chase in a study of gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The experimental treatment is still being studied but researchers hope it may help prevent the devastating effects of the disease. Natalia de la Rosa Reyes/Susan Finazzo hide caption

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Natalia de la Rosa Reyes/Susan Finazzo

Gene therapy for muscular dystrophy stirs hopes and controversy

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Friday

Long COVID — lingering symptoms that can follow a COVID diagnosis — plagues millions of Americans. It may be less likely after a second bout of COVID than after a first. For those living with it, it can be debilitating. Judy Schafer, 58, met with a group of other women with long COVID via Zoom, at her home in Seattle, Wash., in January. Jovelle Tamayo/The Washington Post via Getty Images hide caption

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Jovelle Tamayo/The Washington Post via Getty Images

You're less likely to get long COVID after a second infection than a first

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Wednesday

Even though the uptake of the omicron booster has been lackluster, federal officials have decided some adults can get a second shot. Scott Olson/Getty Images hide caption

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Scott Olson/Getty Images

Some adults can now get a second shot of the bivalent COVID-19 vaccine

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The FDA is considering authorizing a spring COVID-19 booster

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Thursday

In London to address a gene-editing summit last week, Victoria Gray took a break to visit Sir John Soane's Museum. In 2019, Gray became the first patient to be treated for sickle cell disease using CRISPR, an experimental gene-editing technique. She was invited to talk about her experiences at the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing. Orlando Gili for NPR hide caption

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Orlando Gili for NPR

Sickle cell patient's success with gene editing raises hopes and questions

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Wednesday

Researchers meeting in London this week concluded that techniques that have made it easier to manipulate DNA still produce too many mistakes for scientists to be confident any children born from edited embryos (such as these, photographed in 2018) would be healthy. Mark Schiefelbein/AP hide caption

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Mark Schiefelbein/AP

Ethical concerns temper optimism about gene-editing for human diseases

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Tuesday

Why genetic engineering experts are putting a spotlight on Victoria Gray's case

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Monday

Biophysicist He Jiankui addressed the last international summit on human genome editing in Hong Kong in 2018. His experiments in altering the genetic makeup of human embryos was widely condemned by scientists and ethicists at the time, and still casts a long shadow over this week's summit in London. Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images

Experts weigh medical advances in gene-editing with ethical dilemmas

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Friday

The COVID-19 dashboard created by the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering is displayed during a briefing on Capitol Hill in early March 2020, when only 245 confirmed cases had been reported in the U.S. Samuel Corum/Getty Images hide caption

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Samuel Corum/Getty Images

As the pandemic ebbs, an influential COVID tracker shuts down

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Friday

Immunity Americans acquired through vaccination or via prior infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus may account for the lighter than expected COVID surge in the U.S. this winter, researchers say. David Ryder/Getty Images hide caption

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David Ryder/Getty Images

This winter's U.S. COVID surge is fading fast, likely thanks to a 'wall' of immunity

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Friday

FDA proposes easing restrictions on blood donations, seeks public comment

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Thursday

A controversial proposal would update COVID vaccines each year for dominant strain

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Monday

Licensed vocational nurse Denise Saldana vaccinates Pri DeSilva, associate director of Individual and Corporate Giving, with a fourth Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine booster at the Dr. Kenneth Williams Health Center in Los Angeles, Nov. 1, 2022. Damian Dovarganes/AP hide caption

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Damian Dovarganes/AP

The FDA considers a major shift in the nation's COVID vaccine strategy

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Wednesday

With COVID, flu and cold viruses spreading widely this winter, researchers looked into whether you can get infected with more than one at once. Nathan Howard/AP hide caption

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Nathan Howard/AP

Can you get COVID and the flu at the same time?

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Saturday

In hopes of getting a better sense of which SARS-CoV-2 variants might be coming into the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently expanded its voluntary testing of some passengers exiting from international flights at certain airports. Rick Bowmer/AP hide caption

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Rick Bowmer/AP