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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Overall, U.S. life expectancy dipped in 2015 — the first drop since 1993. That's because the death rate went up between 2014 and 2015, driven by an increase in mortality among people younger than 65.
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For the first time in decades, the number of children with asthma isn't increasing, federal scientists report. But cases continue to rise among African-American children and poor children.
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For three decades, men who have sex with men were barred from ever donating blood. A new policy will allow gay and bisexual men to donate, but only if they've been celibate for at least a year.
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A decrease in PSA testing came after a controversial recommendation against routine screening. As a result, many fewer cases of the most common cancer to hit men are being diagnosed, research finds.
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A rise in suicides plus an epidemic of overdoses from prescription painkillers and heroin are key factors that have undone a long-term improvement in death rates. A weak economy may have contributed.
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A large study suggests some may use e-cigarettes to quit smoking tobacco. But the survey also shows that nearly 10 percent of young adults who have never smoked tobacco have used the devices.
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Researchers find that babies lacking four types of bacteria in their guts at 3 months appear to have a higher risk for developing asthma later in life.
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The Food and Drug Administration approved Essure for sale in 2002. But with health complaints on the rise from women using the device, the agency's expert panel now urges more study on complications.
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It's the only available, nonsurgical permanent birth control option that's FDA-approved. But thousands of women have complained of serious side effects like severe pain, heavy bleeding and depression.
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The Food and Drug Administration exercised its regulatory power to compel a tobacco company to stop selling cigarettes after the maker failed to show they don't raise new public health issues.