Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa to Depart Johns Hopkins Medicine

Dear Colleagues:

It is with the all-too-typical Johns Hopkins Medicine mixture of immense pride and sincere regret that I share with you that Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa will be leaving us in September to become the William J. and Charles H. Mayo Professor and Chair of Neurologic Surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida.

Over the past decade, while performing exceptional service as an indefatigable neurosurgeon, researcher, writer and mentor, no member of the Johns Hopkins Department of Neurosurgery has equaled the extraordinary ebullience, enthusiasm and inspirational outreach of Alfredo—often affectionately referred to as "Dr. Q." Indeed, his compelling history as a poor Mexican immigrant turned renowned brain surgeon and Johns Hopkins luminary actually may soon become a motion picture produced by Disney, ensuring that the work he has done here will reach an even wider audience than ever.

As a professor of neurosurgery, oncology, neuroscience, and cellular and molecular medicine, Alfredo has performed many complex operations, with grateful patients who came from around the nation and overseas. He has obtained three National Institutes of Health grants, collaborated on four others and published more than 285 peer-reviewed journal articles, which have been cited more than 9,500 times. He also has overseen the work of three successful Ph.D. candidates, nine master's degree students and more than 50 international fellows. Many of his fellows have gone on to join the Johns Hopkins faculty or other renowned institutions, such as the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and the University of Florida, among others.

Alfredo has published five books on neurosurgery and one on stem cell biology, written more than 100 book chapters, and obtained substantial funding for research and clinical projects. In what is another remarkably lasting legacy, his compassionate care inspired creation of the Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa and Taneja Family Professorship in Neurosurgery.

Of course, Alfredo's achievements here at Johns Hopkins have been recognized throughout the neurosurgery, oncology, neuroscience, and cellular and molecular medicine worlds. He has received seven honorary degrees—five in the United States and two from abroad.

Ever since 2005, we have had the privilege, pleasure and joy of being colleagues of Alfredo, a unique figure in the history of Johns Hopkins neurosurgery. We congratulate Mayo for recognizing his inestimable abilities and offering him what very well may be his dream job as head of his own department—and a roving ambassador to South America, where he hopes to promulgate the outstanding neurosurgery that we, and Mayo, practice in this country.

Knowing Alfredo as we do, we are certain he will continue expanding the boundaries of our specialty and improving the lives of countless individuals. We are very proud of what he has accomplished during the past 11 years. We wish him and his family all the best as he embarks on this exciting new endeavor.

Sincerely,

Henry Brem, M.D.
Harvey W. Cushing Professor of Neurosurgery
Director, The Johns Hopkins Department of Neurosurgery