Leading complex collaborations is some of the most important work happening inside organizations today.
It is also some of the least understood.
I’m Dr. Maritza Salazar Campo, a professor of organization and management at UC Irvine, where my research focuses on team science, collaborative leadership, and how diverse experts coordinate their work to solve complex problems.
Across healthcare, science, and industry, the most meaningful advances rarely come from individuals working alone. They emerge from teams—scientists, clinicians, engineers, and professionals—whose expertise must be integrated across disciplines, departments, and institutions.
But most professionals were trained to become experts in their field, not leaders of complex collaboration.
My work sits in that gap.
For more than a decade, I’ve studied how cross-functional teams operate and how leaders navigate the structural and relational challenges that arise when people with different expertise, incentives, and timelines must work together. At UC Irvine, I lead initiatives that support team science and collaborative research across the UCI and UCLA medical schools, helping scientific teams design more effective ways of working together.
Alongside my academic work, I created The Strategic Science Commons to translate this research into practical tools for professionals working inside complex organizations.
Much of the leadership that holds organizations together happens in the middle of systems—among people who coordinate projects, translate across disciplines, and quietly keep collaborative work moving forward.
These leaders often carry significant responsibility without clear authority or recognition.
Through my writing, teaching, and advisory work, I help these professionals develop the frameworks and practices needed to lead collaborative work with clarity and confidence.
Because leadership in complex environments is not simply about expertise or authority.
It is about designing how work moves between people.
My Research
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Salazar, M., Lant, T., Gibson, C., & Slyngstad, D. (in progress). Perspective Integration Capability: Unlocking the Innovation Potential of Expertise-Diverse Teams.
Salazar, M. R., & Lant, T. K. (2018). Facilitating Innovation in Interdisciplinary Teams: The Role of Leaders and Integrative Communication. Informing Science, 21, 157-178.
Salazar, M., Lant, T., Fiore, S., Salas, E. (2012). Integrative Capacity: A New Perspective for Understanding Interdisciplinary Team Processes and Outcomes. Small Group Research, DOI: 10.1177/1046496412453622.
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Grossman, R., Campo, M. S., Feitosa, J., & Salas, E. (2021). Cross-cultural perspectives on collaboration: Differences between the Middle East and the United States. Journal of Business Research, 129, 2-13.
Salazar, M. & Salas, E. (2013). Reflection of Cross-Cultural Collaboration Science. Journal of Organizational Behavior. Vol. 34, pp. 910-917. DOI: 10.1002/job.1881.
Feitosa, J., Grossman, R., & Salazar, M. (2018). Debunking key assumptions about teams: The role of culture. American Psychologist, 73(4), 376-389.
Salas, E., Salazar, M., & Gelfand, M. (2012). Understanding Culture as Diversity. In Q. Roberson (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Diversity and Work. (pp. 31-51). Oxford: Oxford Press.
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Báez, A., et al., (2023). Impact of COVID-19 on the Research Career Advancement of Health Equity Scholars from Diverse Backgrounds. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(6), 4750.
Mubasher, M., et al. (2023). The Role of Mock Reviewing Sessions in the National Research Mentoring Network Strategic Empowerment Tailored for Health Equity Investigators: A Randomized Controlled Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(9), 5738.
Mubasher, et al., (2021). Randomized Controlled Study to Test the Effectiveness of Developmental Network Coaching in the Career Advancement of Diverse Early-Stage Investigators (ESIs): Implementation Challenges and Lessons Learned. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(22), 12003.
Pruitt, B. L., et al.,(2023). Insights from an AIMBE Workshop: Diversifying Paths to Academic Leadership. Biomedical Engineering Education, 1-14.
Benson, G. S., McIntosh, C. K., Salazar, M., & Vaziri, H. (2020). Cultural values and definitions of career success. Human Resource Management Journal, 30(3), 392-421.
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Campo, M. S., et al., (2023). Formative Evaluation of a Student Symptom Decision Tree for COVID-19. Health behavior and policy review, 10(1), 1140-1152.
Bisbey, T. M., Wooten, K. C., Campo, M. S., Lant, T. K., & Salas, E. (2021). Implementing an evidence-based competency model for science team training and evaluation: TeamMAPPS. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 5(1).
Alvarez, S., Salazar Campo, M, LaBeaud, D. (2022) Team Science and Infectious Disease Work: Exploring Opportunities and Challenges. Stewart Ibarra, A. & LaBeaud, D., In Infection Disease Work in a Changing World: People, Pathogens and Partnerships. Springer, 2022.
Sonesh, S., Gregory, M., Hughes, A., Feitosa, J, Benishek, L, Verhoeven, D, Patzer, B, Salazar, M., Gonzalez, L. Salas, E. (2015) Team Training in Obstetrics: A multi-level evaluation. Family, Systems, and Health.
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Salazar, M. R., Feitosa, J., & Salas, E. (2017). Diversity and team creativity: Exploring underlying mechanisms. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 21(4), 187-206.
Salazar, M. Mohammed, S. & Schulz, M. (in progress). More creative when we work together? The influence of temporal orientation diversity and shard temporal cognition in teams.
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Salazar, M., Okhuysen, G., and Heejin, K., (in progress). Searching for a Cure: The Role of Scaffolding Interventions in Scientific Collaborations.
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Salazar, M., Doiron, K., Widmer, K, and Lant, K. (2019). Leader integrative capabilities: A catalyst for effective inter-disciplinary teams. Hall, K., Vogel, A. and Croyle, R. Advancing Social and Behavioral Health Research through Cross-Disciplinary Team Science: Principles for Success. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2019 (pp. 313-328).
Slyngstad, D., DeMichele, A., Salazar, M. (2016) Team performance in knowledge work. In Eduardo Salas, Rico, Ramon, Neal Ashkanasy, Jonathon Passmore (Eds), The Wiley Handbook of Psychology of Team Working and Collaborative Processes. Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. (pg. 43-72).
Salas, E., Salazar, M. Feitosa, J., & Kramer, W. (2013) Collaboration and Conflict in Work Teams. The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Climate and Culture. Oxford: Oxford Press
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Salazar, M., Sengupta, P., Kim, H., Chung, B., Ledford, G. & Schneider, B. (In progress). Team Recovery and Performance: The Role of Team Engagement and Team Burnout
Chung, B., Ledford, G. & Schneider, Salazar, M. (in progress) Job characteristics and transformational leadership effects on well-being and subsequent outcomes.
Vaziri, H., Benson, G. S., & Salazar Campo, M. (2019). Hardworking coworkers: A multilevel cross‐national look at group work hours and work–family conflict. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 20 (6), pp. 676-692.
Trusted by leading organizations to align priorities and drive progress for their teams and organizations.
Here’s a glimpse into my background:
After graduating from Stanford University, I got a close-up look at the experiences of managers and employees as a counselor at a large Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Driven to learn more, I pursued a Ph.D. in Management at NYU’s Stern School of Business, where I studied team performance and leader effectiveness.
Today, as a management professor at UCI’s Merage School of Business, I continue researching team and organizational effectiveness drivers while providing leadership education to top talent. You can see some of the ongoing research projects I am working on below. This evidence-based work is what I leverage to provide curriculum in the classroom and content for my newsletter.
I seek to improve the world by helping people become who they were meant to be and do the work that they were made for.
Through curriculum, coaching, and custom solutions, I empower individuals and organizations to uncover their purpose-driven mission. I aim to equip leaders with the necessary skills to deliver exceptional results and adopt daily practices that keep them focused on their path.
NAVIGATING NEW HORIZONS -
Take a look at some of my current NIH and NSF funded research projects:
(click images for more details)
