In July of 2011, Michael Lawton MD, professor and chief of vascular neurosurgery at the
University of California San Francisco, and Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa MD, a professor and
brain tumor specialist at Johns Hopkins, joined forces to take a group of
volunteers to the public hospital Fray Antonio Alcalde in Guadalajara, Mexico. The trip was
arranged in collaboration with the hospital’s Chief of Neurosciences, Dr. Rodrigo Ramos-
Zuniga.
The purpose of the trip was to perform complex neurosurgical procedures on patients who
could not afford to have the necessary surgeries done. The trip was also designed to be an
educational experience for the resident neurosurgeons in Guadalajara and a forum for
exchange of ideas and techniques.
The trip was a dramatic success and the team was invited back in 2012, when they were
joined by pediatric neurosurgeon George Jallo, MD from Johns Hopkins. Together, the three
surgeons held resident conferences and performed difficult operations on patients who
would not otherwise have been able to obtain treatment.
In addition to the surgeons, the team included specialized operating room nurses and a
surgical instrument supplier from Q Surgical, who donated time and equipment to the project
and the hospital. The team is now preparing for the 2013 mission to Mexico.