Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa


Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa is a neurosurgeon, author, and researcher. Currently, he is the William J. and Charles H. Mayo Professor and Chair of Neurologic Surgery and runs a basic science research lab at the Mayo Clinic Jacksonville in Florida. In recognition of his work, Dr. Quiñones-Hinojosa has received many awards and honors, including being named as one of the 100 most influential Hispanics in the U.S. by Hispanic Business Journal in 2008; as 2014 Neurosurgeon of the Year by Voices Against Brain Cancer, where he was also recognized with the Gary Lichtenstein Humanitarian Award; and by the 2015 Forbes magazine as one of Mexico’s most brilliant minds in the world.
In addition, he is an editorial board member and reviewer for several prominent publications. Most notably, Dr. Quiñones-Hinojosa is the editor-in-chief for one of the most well-respected and widely read operative neurosurgical textbooks in the world – Schmidek and Sweet’s Operative Neurosurgical Techniques. As well, he is one of the authors for Controversies in Neuro-Oncology, which was awarded first prize by the British Medical Association. Dr. Quiñones-Hinojosa also has published an autobiography, Becoming Dr. Q, about his journey from migrant farm worker to neurosurgeon, and recently Disney with Plan B Entertainment productions announced that his inspirational life story is going to be featured in a movie.
Dr. Quiñones-Hinojosa is co-founder and serves as president of Mission: BRAIN, Bridging Resources and Advancing International Neurosurgery, a 501 nonprofit foundation.

Early years

Quiñones was born in Mexicali, Baja California, México. In 1987, at the age of 19, Quiñones-Hinojosa went to the United States. Once arriving in the United States, Quiñones could not speak English and worked on farms outside of Fresno, California. As a farm hand, he saved enough money to take English classes.

Education

Quiñones-Hinojosa started his education at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, California. He completed his bachelor's degree in psychology with the highest honors at University of California, Berkeley. He then went on to receive his medical degree from Harvard Medical School, where he graduated with honors. He also became a US citizen during this time. He then completed his residency in neurosurgery at the University of California, San Francisco, where he also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in developmental and stem cell biology at the laboratory of Professor Arturo Alvarez-Buylla.

Professional career

Quiñones began his career at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where he became a Professor of Neurosurgery and Oncology, Neurology, and Cellular and Molecular Medicine and director of the Brain Tumor Stem Cell Biology Lab. His clinical interests focus on the surgical treatment of primary and metastatic brain tumors, with an emphasis on motor and speech mapping during surgery. He is expert in treating intradural spinal tumors as well as brainstem and eloquent brain tumors in adults with the use of neurophysiological monitoring during surgery. He further specializes in the treatment of patients with pituitary tumors using a transphenoidal endonasal approach with surgical navigation and/or endoscopic techniques. He has a strong interest in treating patients with skull base tumors and the use of radiosurgery as an adjunct to the treatment of these lesions.
Quiñones conducts both clinical and basic science research. From 2005-2016, his team published over 150 scientific articles and received 14 funding grants. Quiñones conducts numerous research efforts on elucidating the role of stem cells in the origin of brain tumors and the potential role stem cells can play in fighting brain cancer and regaining neurological function. He has been actively involved in fund raisers for brain cancer research. He continues to participate at half-marathons with his research team and some of his own patients to raise money for cancer research.
In April 2016, Quiñones was hired by Mayo Clinic in Florida as its William J. and Charles H. Mayo Professor and chairman of Neurosurgery. He left Johns Hopkins and started work at Mayo Clinic Florida in Jacksonville. His clinical work includes:
In addition to his clinical activities, Quinones-Hinojosa leads NIH-funded research to find a cure for brain cancer. His research focuses on brain tumors and cell migration, healthcare disparities for minorities and clinical outcomes for neurosurgical patients. He is also researching new techniques in neurosurgery such as the use of nanotechnology and focal beam radiotherapy, the development of new imaging software to identify areas of tumors, and the development of innovative, minimally invasive approaches to brain tumor resection in the systemic treatment of solid tumors.

Books

Quiñones is the author of more than 50 book chapters and has authored several textbooks on neurosurgical techniques and stem cell biology. In 2011, Quiñones edited Core Techniques in Operative Neurosurgery and published his autobiography, Becoming Dr Q: My Journey from Migrant Farm Worker to Brain Surgeon, which went on to earn him an International Latino Book Award in 2012. In 2012, Quiñones was the lead editor of the 6th edition of Schmidek and Sweet's Operative Neurosurgical Techniques, one of the world's preeminent textbooks of neurosurgery. He will also serve as the lead editor for the 7th edition of Schmidek and Sweet's Operative Neurosurgical Techniques. In 2013, Quiñones published Controversies in Neuro-Oncology: Best Evidence Medicine for Brain Tumor Surgery with Dr. Shaan Raza. The British Medical Association awarded Controversies in Neuro-Oncology first prize in Oncology in 2014. Quiñones is currently working on a first Video-Atlas of Neurosurgery that will be published in 2016.

Awards and recognitions