Local Doctor Wins Genius Grant

Every year, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation presents its "Genius Grant" awards to a group of creative individuals from a host of fields, ranging from experimental jazz to cosmology.

The benefits: $500,000 in grant money, no strings attached, that will help fund future creative projects.

Among the 25 new fellows this year is Dr. Atul Gawande, a surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital, an assistant professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, and a staff writer on the New Yorker magazine.

Dr. Gawande speaks to WBUR's Morning Edition about winning the fellowship.