Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa: From Undocumented Immigrant to Brain Surgeon

Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa, MD, received his medical degree from Harvard, where he graduated with honors. 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. 

Now an assistant professor of neurosurgery and oncology at Johns Hopkins, Quiñones serves as the director of the brain tumor program at the Johns Hopkins Bayview campus. 

He focuses 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. 

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. 

His most recent accolade was being honored with the American Association of Neurological Surgeons’ Ronald Bittner Award. He has also received multiple teaching awards. Quiñones was an illegal immigrant from Mexico. After years of work as a farm worker, he eventually became a U.S. citizen and a renowned brain surgeon. He is the author of Becoming Dr. Q: My Journey from Migrant Farm Worker to Brain Surgeon.

Is there an educator or adviser along the way in your life who encouraged you to keep moving forward despite the obstacles you were facing?

There were several educators in my life that