Rebecca Smith
Health ReporterRebecca Smith is an award-winning reporter and producer for the KBIA Health & Wealth Desk. Born and raised outside of Rolla, Missouri, she has a passion for diving into often overlooked issues that affect the rural populations of her state – especially stories that broaden people’s perception of “rural” life. She created a conversations-based journalism project, Missouri Health Talks, in 2016 that empowers people throughout the state to share their stories of access to healthcare – in their own words.
She has degrees in both Journalism and Chemistry from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, and often says health reporting is the perfect marriage of individual’s stories and reporting on science.
You can reach her at smithbecky@missouri.edu or 573-882-4824.
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Randy Rafter is the executive director of Black Pride STL, the second oldest Black gay pride organization in the country. The group began more than 30 years ago during the AIDS epidemic, but has sense evolved and expanded to serve the entirety of a person. -
For the third year in a row, A.T. Still University-Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (ATSU-KCOM) has been ranked first in the country for the number of graduates now practicing in rural areas. -
On this month’s Socially Transmitted, KBIA's Najifa Farhat and Rebecca Smith look at beef tallow — both what it is and how it can impact cardiac health. -
Aaron Kitchens is the executive director of the Glo Center — an LGBTQ+ resource and community center in Springfield that serves the southwest part of the state. -
MU Health Care announced today that it's undergoing an “organizational redesign” to protect the long-term financial sustainability of the system. -
KBIA’s Rebecca Smith recently spoke with Eric Hueste, who runs the Office of Emergency Coordination for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. They spoke about some of the ways the state is working to monitor and protect the health of all soccer fans in Missouri. -
Last year, the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services received and investigated more than 43,000 cases of elder abuse. That’s nearly thirteen hundred more than the previous count. -
In an episode dedicated to all things bugs, KBIA’s Rachael Norden is joined by KBIA Health Reporter Rebecca Smith to speak with Dr. Emily Althoff, Assistant Extension Professor and State Extension Specialist of Urban Entomology at CAFNR on the relationships between pollinators and pests – how they’re often one and the same – and how people can play a vital role in stewarding local environments to not only help our flying friends survive, but thrive. -
Open Table is the local soup kitchen in Fulton that serves dinner to the community four days a week — regardless of income. Sue Beaty is the president and shared a little about the group and how they're serving the community through conversation and over dinner -
Some local, independent pharmacies in Missouri are finding ways to diversify and expand their businesses to stay afloat — for now.
