Cally completed her PhD in chemistry at the University of Southampton under the guidance of Prof. Phil Gale in 2011, studying the design of small molecule anion carriers. She was awarded a Doctoral Prize fellowship in Southampton and continued working here as a PDRA until 2013. From 2013 - 2015 she worked as a Publishing Editor at the Royal Society of Chemistry, helping to produce journals including ChemComm, Chemical Science and ChemSocRev. In 2015 she took up a postdoctoral position in the group of Prof. Jonathan Nitschke at the University of Cambridge, studying the applications of metal-organic cages as ion channels, stimuli-responsive phase separation agents, components of supramolecular gels, DNA binders and porous liquids. She joined UCL as a lecturer in June 2019.

Cally is also a co-founder and vice chair (communications) for the Women In Supramolecular Chemistry (WISC) network, an international network aiming  to support the retention and career progression of women of all career stages within the supramolecular chemistry community.