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co-host and producer Jad Abumrad is among this year's 22 recipients of "genius" grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Each MacArthur fellow receives $500,000 "to advance their expertise, engage in bold new work, or, if they wish, to change fields or alter the direction of their careers."

Jad, who hosts and produces Radiolab from WNYC in New York, creates "engaging audio explorations of scientific and philosophical questions [that] captivate listeners and bring to broadcast journalism a distinctive new aesthetic," .

This year's other winners, and excerpts about them from the MacArthur announcements:

-- of Washington, D.C.: "a lawyer who draws on a blend of legal, policy, and legislative skills to combat the largely hidden but immense problem of elder abuse and mistreatment."

-- of Harvard University: "an economist illuminating the causes and consequences of economic disparity due to race and inequality in American society."

-- of Chicago: "an architect challenging the aesthetic and technical possibilities of the art form in a wide range of structures."

-- of the University of Pittsburgh: "a biomedical researcher who is harnessing the power of genomic sequencing techniques to generate critical insights about human pathogens."

-- of Harvard: "an experimental physicist who is advancing our capacity to control the spatial organization of ultra-cold atoms with the aim of revealing basic principles of condensed matter physics."

-- of the University of North Carolina: "a researcher and athletic trainer who has made major advances in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of sports-related concussions."

-- of Ridgway, Colo.: "a long-form journalist whose three books and numerous magazine articles explore the complexities of life in Reform Era China as it undergoes one of the fastest social transformations in history."

-- of the University of Michigan: "a public historian who explores the complex interrelationships between African and Cherokee people living and working in colonial America." (Coincidentally, she's due on Tell Me More later today.)

-- of Harvard: "a leading clinical psychologist of suicide and self-injury in adolescents and adults, [who] has made significant breakthroughs associated with the very basic question of why people harm themselves."

-- , director and founder of the Young People's Chorus of New York City: He is "is shaping the future of choral singing for children."

-- of the University of British Columbia: "a theoretical biologist whose research focuses on fundamental questions of population genetics and evolution, such as why some species reproduce sexually and why some species carry more than one copy of each gene."

-- of the University of Washington: "a computer scientist who has invented a series of sensor technology systems for home environments with the goal of saving energy and improving daily life through a broad range of applications."

-- of New York City: "a percussionist whose dazzling technical abilities electrify audiences and whose rhythmically adventurous compositions combine a range of musical vocabularies."

-- of Fairfax, Calif.: "an accomplished poet whose immediately distinctive and tightly woven verse is grounded in incisive explorations of seemingly familiar language, ideas, and experiences."

-- of the University of Michigan: "a chemist reviving and enhancing approaches to organic synthesis previously set aside because of their technical difficulty."

-- of the University of California, San Francisco: "a clinician-researcher who integrates microscopy, magnetic resonance imaging, and clinical examination to explore the structural, functional, and behavioral aspects of human neurodegenerative disease."

-- J of Rutgers University: "a historian whose meticulously researched studies of early modern Europe are shedding new light on the origins of the modern state."

-- of Athens, Greece: "a poet and translator mining the classical world and traditional poetic techniques to craft works that evoke startling insights about contemporary life."

-- of Maplewood, N.J.: "a fourth-generation silversmith, conservator, and scholar who draws upon a deep knowledge of past and modern metalworking techniques to restore historical masterworks in silver and to create original works of art."

-- of New York City: "a young cellist whose emotionally resonant performances of both traditional and contemporary music have earned her international recognition."

-- of the University of Michigan Medical School: "a developmental biologist exploring the biochemical, structural, and molecular genetic mechanisms that regulate stem cell division."

Update at 12:10 p.m. ET. More On The Winners.

Two other NPR blogs now have posts up about some of the geniuses:

-- " ." (Planet Money)

-- " ." (The Record)

Note: NPR is that the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation supports.

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