Dr. McCall is an expert in integrating cell-type selective tools such as in vivo optogenetics and chemogenetics with classical and viral neural tract tracing and various types of electrophysiology to directly test functions of the locus coeruleus noradrenergic system and its afferent and efferent projections. He has previously discovered key activity-dependent effects of LC function in stress-related negative affective behaviors and is currently using these same approaches to test the role of this structure in stress-induced antinociception. Dr. McCall is an expert in modular function of the LC, having published multiple primary research articles on functional roles of afferent and efferent circuits of this system as well as multiple reviews and commentaries on its function in pain and anxiety.