About the Speaker

Dr. Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa, commonly known as Dr. Q, came to the United States at the age of 19 as an undocumented and unable to speak English. He first started to work as a farmhand in Central Valley, California, picking fruits and vegetables. He saved enough money to take English classes at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, CA. He subsequently discovered his love and talent for science and decided to continue his studies at the University of California at Berkeley and graduated with the highest honors.

He subsequently received his medical degree on full scholarship from Harvard University, where he graduated cum laude. He 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. His career began at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He became a Professor of Neurosurgery and Oncology, Neurology, and Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and Director of the Brain Tumor Stem Cell Laboratory. Today, he is the “William J. and Charles H. Mayo Professor” and Chair of Neurologic Surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. 

Dr. Q is an internationally renowned neurosurgeon and neuroscientist who leads NIH-funded research to cure brain cancer. He is the principal investigator at the Brain Tumors Stem Cell Laboratory at the Mayo Clinic. He has published over 450 peer-reviewed papers and 100 book chapters, edited 14 high-impact neurosurgical textbooks, and published his memoir, “Becoming Dr. Q”, in both English and Spanish. Dr. Q is the founder and president of the nonprofit organization Mission: BRAIN, providing patients in need access to advanced neurosurgical procedures around the world. For all his work, Dr. Q has also been recognized with several prestigious awards, including being named as one of the 100 most influential Hispanics in the U.S. by Hispanic Business Journal; 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; he was also selected by Popular Science magazine as one of their 6th Annual Brilliant Ten in their search for young genius influencing the course of science.  He has received honorary degrees from Southern Vermont College, Lackawanna College, Dominican University, University of Notre Dame, Loyola University, and Universidad Anahuac Mexico.  He was awarded the Cortes de Cadiz Prize in the category of surgery by the city council of Cadiz, Spain, and was also named by Forbes as one of the most creative Mexicans. Dr. Q’s story was featured on the BBC and Netflix show “The Surgeon’s cut” in December 2020 and more recently Annapurna Pictures and Plan B Entertainment productions announced that his inspirational life story is going to be featured in a movie.

How to participate

The class will become available about 30 minutes prior to the start of the presentation. During this time, you should ensure that you have the Zoom client installed and working.

To install Zoom, click on the link for your operating system:
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How to get your Participation Certificate

After the presentation, return to this course to take the post-lecture quiz. The quiz will consist of information that was presented during the session and should not be difficult if you watched the presentation. Once you finish and pass the quiz, mark the course as complete. Your certificate will be available for download as a PDF file upon completion.

You can always return to your profile to view and download your certificates.