Migrant Farm Worker Turned Brain Surgeon Keynotes Angelo State University Moon Lectureship Series

SAN ANGELO, TX – Dr. Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa, the Monica Flynn Jacoby Chair of Neurologic Surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., will deliver Angelo State University's 45th Distinguished Lectureship in Science Honoring Dr. Roy E. Moon on Monday, April 17, in the Houston Harte University Center, 1910 Rosemont Drive.

Quinones-Hinojosa will give two public presentations on April 17:

• 2 p.m. - "Mapping the Brain: The Frontiers of Keeping Patients Awake"

• 7 p.m. - "Using Fat to Fight Cancer"

Both presentations will take place in the University Center's C.J. Davidson Conference Center and are free and open to the public.

A native of Mexicali, Mexico, Quinones-Hinojosa, better known as Dr. Q, rose from humble beginnings to become an internationally renowned neuroscientist and neurosurgeon at the Mayo Clinic. At age 18, he took a leap of faith and relocated to California to reach for the American Dream. While toiling as an undocumented worker in the tomato fields and rail yards of central California, he took classes at San Joaquin Delta College and eventually earned a scholarship to the University of California Berkeley. After earning a bachelor's degree, he completed his M.D. at Harvard Medical School, became a U.S. citizen, and then did his residency in neurosurgery at UC San Francisco.

Since then, Dr. Q has become one of the world's finest surgeons and scientists, first at Johns Hopkins University and now the Mayo Clinic. He operates on about 250 brain tumors every year and leads cutting-edge, federally-funded research to cure brain cancer. In 2011, he co-founded the Mission:Brain Foundation that provides neurosurgical resources to patients, caregivers and providers in underserved areas around the world.

A prolific researcher, Dr. Q has co-authored nearly 600 publications, as well as his best-selling autobiography, "Becoming Dr. Q: My Journey from Migrant Farm Worker to Brain Surgeon." He has appeared on the award-winning ABC TV series "Hopkins," as well as on CNN, "NOVA" on PBS, "CBS News" and "The Today Show," and he is featured in an episode of the Netflix documentary "The Surgeon's Cut."

In a career littered with honors and awards, Dr. Q has received numerous honorary doctorates from universities in the U.S. and Mexico. He has been named Scientist of the Year by Newsweek, Neurosurgeon of the Year by Voices Against Brain Cancer, a Brilliant 10 Genius by Popular Science, and one of Mexico's Most Brilliant Minds in the World by Forbes magazine.

The Distinguished Lectureship in Science honors Dr. Roy E. Moon, a longtime San Angelo obstetrician and gynecologist, who died in 1976. He practiced for 28 years with Clinic Hospital Medical Associates, later West Texas Medical Associates (WTMA). The lectureship was established in 1976 and for 43 years, through 2019, the lectureship was underwritten by an annual grant from the members of WTMA.

Beginning in 2022, the legacy of the lectureship was assured through the generous support provided by Shannon. Each year, the lectureship brings a scientist of national prominence to ASU for public lectures, colloquia and informal discussions.