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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Gina Plata-Nino is the SNAP director for the Food Research and Action Center, a national nonprofit group focused on eliminating hunger in the US, and spoke about some of the impacts changes to SNAP could have on Missourians. -
Dozens of people impacted by alpha-gal syndrome, a tick-borne allergy to mammalian products, such as red meat and dairy, rallied at the Missouri capital Tuesday. -
KBIA’s Rebecca Smith recently sat down with Dr. Mohammad Badran at the University of Missouri who studies sleep apnea to learn more about the disorder and how leaving it undiagnosed could be impacting other parts of people’s health. -
The Missouri Immunization Coalition was a non-profit that focused on advocacy, education and training around vaccines. Funding cuts to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention in April led to a loss of funding for the group and they were forced to shutter in summer 2025. -
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1 in 8 American women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime — often leading to long and arduous treatments that change the way a woman's body looks. But there's an option for women after treatment that’s helping them regain confidence in their bodies and themselves. -
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New research from the University of Missouri has found that an AI tool could be helpful in more efficiently diagnosing and treating autistic children in rural Missouri. -
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Allergic reactions from alpha-gal syndrome can be dangerous to one’s physical health — even deadly. But what impact does the condition have on someone’s mental health? In the final part of KBIA’s news series, “One Small Bite,” KBIA’s Rebecca Smith goes hunting — and talks to those who are trying preserve their identities while also protecting their health.
