March 30, 2021
6 min reading
This story originally appeared in Unknown Mexico
Alfredo Quiñones Hinojosa, popularly as Dr. Q, is a Mexican neurosurgeon, history is able to move anyone. He was born in the city of Mexicali, Baja California, 1968.
At the age of 19, Alfredo could not speak English, so he had to work on a farm in Fresno, California. According to his various testimonies, he had a very poor life in Mexico, which gave him enough courage to wish to overcome himself and throw down the 9-meter wall that separates Mexico and the United States.
“I left Mexico out of necessity. I realized how the system treated my parents. In our countries it’s a little harder to get ahead if you don’t have financial support, if you don’t know anyone,” Quiñones recalls calmly.
Image: Brain and Life Magazine via Mexico Unknown
Although he earned little money, Alfredo Quiñones saved by being able to afford English classes at a community school. Initially he only spends seasons in the United States to pay for his education at a Normal School in Mexico. After graduating, she learned that she had to take the next step: study medicine, inspired by her grandmother, who was a healer.
“I ate people’s leftovers, I went to restaurants and picked up what people left. I was thirsty to move on, even though I became a homeless“, Keep on.
By 1991, Quiñones began his education at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, California, and completed his bachelor’s degree in psychology with honors from the University of California. He later studied Medicine at Harvard University, an institution from which he also graduated with honors.
Image: Via México Unknown
Dr. Q., a model migrant
“I was told our people wouldn’t accept him at Harvard or Standford. I often doubted if I could achieve my dream.”, Reports in an interview for Channel 22.
During his time as a student, he also managed to obtain American citizenship. Finally, it completed his professional formation with a residence in the University of California, San Francisco, where it also collaborated with the Mexican doctor Arthur Alvarez-Buylla in an investigation on stem cells.
“I did it in Mexico, but the United States gave me the opportunity. However, I keep coming back to Mexico to do altruistic tasks and to build bridges between our countries,” he recounts with joy.
Image: Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa / Tom via Mexico Unknown
Dr. Q started his career in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine where he worked as a teacher for the subjects of Neurosurgery and Oncology, Neurology and Cellular and Molecular Medicine. He also worked as the director of the Stem Cell Biology Laboratory for brain tumors.
Her clinical research focuses on the surgical treatment of primary and metastatic brain tumors. He is also an expert in intradural, brainstem and brain spinal tumors. He also specializes in the treatment of patients with pituitary tumors, as well as at the base of the skull and in the use of radiosurgery.
Since 2016, the now known Dr. Q, works at the May Clinic in Florida as a doctor, however, continues his work as an NIH-funded researcher to find a cure for brain cancer. Dr. Q. has collaborated with 50 book chapters and has written several texts on his research.
In 2021, actor Brad Pitt announced his intention to bring the life of Dr. Q, through its Plan B production house that collaborates with Disney. The producer is the same one who filmed 12 years of slavery, An Oscar-winning film. Brad Pitt’s film will surely elevate the lives of Mexican and global migrants.
Awards and recognitions received by Dr. Alfredo Quiñones
- 986 BA Federal Border Urban Normal School, Mexicali, Mexico – Social Sciences and Humanities, Multidisciplinary Teaching License.
- 1991 San Joaquin Delta Community College, Stockton, California – Transfer of the core curriculum to the University of California.
- 1994 Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley, California – High honors.
- 1999 MD Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts – Cum Laude.
- 2000 University of California, San Francisco, California (General Surgery) – Most Valuable Passer Award.
- 2004 University of California, San Francisco, California (Residence – Neurosurgery) – Howard Naffziger Neurological Surgery Award.
- 2006 Howard Hughes Institute – Medical-Scientific Career Award.
- Association of American Medical Colleges – Herbert Nickens Award.
- 2006 Foundation of the American Society of Clinical Oncology – Professional Development Award.
- 2006 Johns Hopkins University – Passano Scientific Medical Award.
- 2007 Johns Hopkins Hospital – Department of Neurosurgery – Faculty Teaching Award (Richard J. Otenasek).
- Robert Wood Johnson Award 2007.
- 2007 Popular Science Magazine – Award to the Ten Brilliant Scientists.
- Baltimore Magazine 2007 – Top Docs of the USA. UU.
- Olender Foundation 2008: America’s Role Model Award.
- Science and Engineering Festival 2010 – Nifty Fifty Scientist.
- Baltimore Magazine 2011: Main Baltimore Papers.
- 2012 Appointed Super Doctor.
- 2012 Ohtli Award Winner.
- 2015 VII Iberoamerican Cortes de Cádiz Surgery Award, Spain.
- Forbes 2015, the most creative Mexicans in the world.
- 2018 Doctorate honoris causa, from the University of Santander.