Dr. Sayra M. Cristancho is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Surgery and Anatomy & Cell Biology, and a Scientist at the Centre for Education Research & Innovation (CERI) at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, Canada. She earned her PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of British Columbia.

Her research program investigates the nature of teamwork during crisis, with the aim of showing how best to support resilient teaming in healthcare. To this end, she has developed a distinctive research approach that cross-pollinates qualitative inquiry and engineering principles with insights from diverse sectors including healthcare, business, music, tactical operations, and emergency response. Her work contributes both theoretically and practically to understanding how professionals and communities adapt under pressure.