Dr. Sayra Cristancho is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery and a Scientist in the Centre for Education Research & Innovation at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.  She received her PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of British Columbia. Dr. Cristancho’s research program investigates the nature of distributed expertise during complex and high-risk situations.

Her work is particularly focused on investigating the organizational, social and personal factors that determine the evolution of a complex and challenging clinical situation and their influence on how groups of experts adapt to the complexity of their professional practice as part of the larger healthcare system. Towards this end, Dr. Cristancho follows both Qualitative and Systems Engineering approaches to research.