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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Tisya Cooke is a Jewish transgender woman and spoke about her experiences coming out and about how she personally defines gender affirmation. -
Craig Fontenot and Dr. Kelly Cleary both work at Food Allergy Research & Education, or FARE — a national non-profit focusing on food allergies. They spoke about what people can do to make holiday gathering safe and more comfortable for everyone. -
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While the federal government has reopened and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits have been reinstated — for LGBTQ+ individuals, the ability to access food assistance remains difficult and uncertain. -
The Center Project is an LGTBQ+ community center in Columbia that serves mid-Missouri. Mel Constantine Miseo is a board member and spoke about the recently announced food share for the holidays — where anyone needing help can come to the Center Project and receive shelf stable foods. -
More and more cases of alpha-gal syndrome are being diagnosed in Missouri, but because the condition does not have to be reported to the state, it’s hard to know just how common it truly is. And without an accurate count, it can be hard for funding and policy decisions to be made. -
Hallene Darland and Tina Sherman are a married autistic and ADHD queer couple. They spoke about the similar unmasking processes they went through when figuring out they were queer and when they got their ADHD and autism diagnoses. -
Erin Washburn and Stephanie Daniels both work for FosterAdopt Connect in Springfield. They spoke about how some of their services — especially their Youth Connect Center can support youth ages 13 through 21, as well as families involved in the child welfare system. -
![Northeast Missouri Health Council is the federally qualified health center [FQHC] in Kirksville, MO.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/4b314cf/2147483647/strip/true/crop/761x424+0+0/resize/280x156!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F6d%2Fa1%2F4b6427de4d8ca4bcdcb797153bec%2Fnortheast-missouri-health-council.jpg)
Dr. Matthew Tilton and Amy Baumgartner with Northeast Missouri Health Council in Kirksville spoke about how they use AI in their clinic — having it listen to patient-provider conversations, so doctors can focus less on their note taking and more on their connection with patients. -
![Northeast Missouri Health Council is the federally qualified health center [FQHC] in Kirksville, MO.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c1c8078/2147483647/strip/true/crop/761x424+0+0/resize/560x312!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F6d%2Fa1%2F4b6427de4d8ca4bcdcb797153bec%2Fnortheast-missouri-health-council.jpg)