Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa may be an internationally renowned neurosurgeon and neuroscientist, but it is the failures in his life that have shaped him just as much as his successes.

From being sent back to Mexico after trying to cross the border to being unable to save some of his brain cancer patients, Quiñones-Hinojosa has embraced what his grandfather and father instilled in him from a young age: Failure is as important as success.

“As I’ve gotten older and I hear talks about philosophy, I realize that in life, success will give you that kind of confidence that you need and failure will allow you to build that kind of character that you need, but wisdom comes from the balance of the two of them,” Quiñones-Hinojosa said.

Quiñones-Hinojosa shared his successes and failures with a packed house of Janelians, HHMI employees, local residents, physicians, and guests on March 25 as part of Janelia’s Dialogues discussion series.

In a wide-ranging conversation with Janelia Executive Director Ron Vale, Dr. Q, as Quiñones-Hinojosa is affectionately known, held the sold-out crowd rapt with stories from his inspiring journey from a small town in Mexico to a migrant farm in California to the operating rooms of the Mayo Clinic.

Although he failed to make it across the border the first time he tried, Quiñones-Hinojosa figured out a way to succeed the second time around.

“Resilience is so important, to be able to see light,” Quiñones-Hinojosa said. “When everything else is darkness, you have to imagine light, and you have to be able to see hope. Hope is the only emotion that is more powerful than fear and that’s what keeps us going.”

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