Scientific and Forensic Advisors, LLC
Scientific and Forensic Advisors, LLC provides several services: (1) scientific assistance with clinical trials related to psychiatry or sleep disorders, (2) expert witness services related to psychiatry and sleep disorders, (3) expert witness services related to medical device product liability, (4) scientific, regulatory and design assistance with medical device projects
Our Services
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Scientific services
We have three decades' expertise in designing, managing and interpreting clinical trials supported by the National Institutes for Health, Biomedical Foundations, and both the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. Our experience is focused on mental health and sleep disorders. We have authored more than 270 peer-reviewed articles in biomedical journals and can offer services assisting with medical writing. Let us help you with the design, implementation, and interpretation of clinical trials in the area of neuropsychiatry.
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Forensic services
We have three decades' experience serving as expert witnesses in more than 30 legal cases in the area of psychiatry and sleep disorders. Sworn testimony was provided in many of these. Topics of these cases include: Standard of Care for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), Patent Infringement, Wrongful Death, Medicare Fraud, and Medical Malpractice including suicide, inappropriate prescribing, and allegations of brain damage from ECT, allegations of disabling memory loss from ECT, lithium toxicity, trazodone side effects, side effects of sleeping pills, premature hospital discharge, relationship of sleep loss to fatal transportation accident, Insanity defense for aggravated assault and possession of a weapon during commission of a felony, Breach of confidentiality, Contested cause of death: accident vs suicide, Boundary violation in treatment, medical malpractice leading to a homicide, question of forgetting versus lying related to PTSD dissociation after a purported rape, failure to recognize risk of deep vein thrombosis in catatonic stupor.
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Medical Device Design Services
With extensive experience in medical device design in a wide variety of therapeutic area, we can help with electrical, mechanical and software design and testing from initial prototyping to final design. With experience in passing standards and safety testing (60601-1, etc.), EMC/EMI testing, IDE submission, preparation for 510k submission, let us help you translate your medical device from a concept to the market.
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Forensic Medical Device Product Liability Services
We have over a decade in medical device research, design and manufacturing which allows us to identify contributing factors of medical device product liability and negligence at various stages of the product development life cycle. Topics may include: Improper risk assessment, improper clinical trial design, device usability and training, and software and hardware design assessment.
ABOUT THE Team
The Founder
Dr. McCall presently is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Health Behavior at Medical College of Georgia (MCG). Dr. McCall served as the Case Distinguished University Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior at MCG at Augusta University from 2012-2024. He also served as Executive Vice Dean of MCG. He previously was the Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine from 2001-2012. He completed his medical degree and post-graduate psychiatric training at Duke University, and a Master’s degree in Epidemiology from Wake Forest University. He is board certified in general psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, and sleep medicine. He received 22 years of research support from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) through 2024, and is now site principal investigator for a new 5-year NIMH award on the topic of insomnia and suicide. He has more than 500 published items, including 270 peer-reviewed journal articles.
Senior advisor
Dr. James McCall is an Engineer and research scientist with over ten years of experience with medical device research, design, regulatory approval/clinical testing, and manufacturing. He has experience with medical device development at every stage. He has experience with medical devices in a wide variety of therapeutic areas (neurostimulation, EEG recording, robotic exoskeletons for neurorehabilitation, surgical robotics, etc.). He completed his PhD in Biomedical engineering at NC State University in 2021, and his dissertation focused on medical robotics and neurorehabilitation strategies. He has been published eight times, and is the principal investigator of a Phase II SBIR NIMH award for development of novel brain stimulation technology.
Contact us.
Email us at wvmccall@sfa-llc.com or use the form below to get in touch