Jennifer Payne, MD

Vice Chair of Research
Psychiatry Department, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

Professor
Psychiatry Department, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

Dr. Payne received her B.S. in biology at Davidson College in Davidson, NC and her M.D. from Washington University Medical School in St. Louis, MO. She completed her residency in psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins Hospital where she served as chief resident during her last year. Dr. Payne then completed a fellowship in mood disorders through the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program at the NIMH. Dr. Payne joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 2003 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2011. During her time at Johns Hopkins Dr. Payne founded and directed the Women’s Mood Disorders Center which, in addition to providing outstanding clinical care for women with mood disorders, served as a research center conducting research into the genetic, biological, and environmental factors involved in postpartum depression. She and her colleagues identified two epigenetic biomarkers of postpartum depression, conduct research on the best management practices for psychiatric illness during pregnancy and are planning prevention studies for postpartum depression. Most recently, Dr. Payne has moved to the University of Virginia where she is serving as the Vice Chair of Research in the Psychiatry Department with a goal of expanding both her own and the department’s research programs.

Dr. Payne has also served as the Deputy Representative of the Women’s Caucus to the American Psychiatric Association Assembly, been named a Distinguished Fellow by the American Psychiatric Association and has served on the Maryland State Perinatal Mental Health Task Force resulting in state legislation improving resources available for perinatal women and their doctors. Most recently she was appointed to the American Psychiatric Association’s Committee on Women’s Mental Health and is serving as President Elect for the International Marcé Perinatal Mental Health Societies.