Joffre Olaya MD

Dr. Joffre E. Olaya performs the full range of pediatric neurosurgical procedures, including the treatment of brain/spine tumors, cerebrovascular lesions, Chiari malformations, neural tube defects, craniosynostosis and hydrocephalus, as well as intractable epilepsy.

As a contributing neurosurgeon, Dr. Olaya enhances the CHOC Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, the first children’s hospital program in California to receive the prestigious Level 4 distinction from the National Association of Epilepsy Centers. Dr. Olaya is further developing the CHOC epilepsy surgery program, working closely with the other pediatric subspecialty services, and continuing to foster a multidisciplinary approach for optimal patient care. He is interested in the leading-edge technology that is making pediatric neurosurgical procedures safer and less invasive. Dr. Olaya’s research on deep-brain stimulation for treating childhood dystonic cerebral palsy has been published in the Journal of Neurosurgery.

Dr. Olaya is a graduate of the University of California at Davis School of Medicine. He completed his neurological surgery residency at Loma Linda University Medical Center. As a resident, he performed an elective rotation in pediatric neurosurgery at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and then completed a postgraduate pediatric neurosurgery fellowship at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Dr. Olaya served his fellowship in epilepsy surgery through the University of Washington at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Dr. Olaya is an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at UC Irvine School of Medicine.