RPRP Staff

Jennifer L. Payne, MD, is the Vice Chair of Research and a Professor at UVA in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, as well as the Director of the Reproductive Psychiatry Research Program (RPRP). She is certified by the by the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology in Psychiatry and is an expert in reproductive psychiatry.

Dr. Payne has been conducting clinical research for the past 20 years, with a particular emphasis in perinatal psychiatry for the past 18 years. Her research interests include epigenetic biomarkers of postpartum depression (for which she holds 2 patents), the genetic, biological basis, prevention and treatment of postpartum depression, as well as premenstrual and perimenopausal mood disorders and psychiatric management. Her interests also include defining best practices for management of psychiatric disorders in pregnancy and postpartum.

Dr. Payne has multiple peer-reviewed publications centering on her clinical research, as well as those reviewing forms of depression, with the goal of understanding the etiology of different forms of depression.

Anne Louise Stewart, MD, is an Assistant Professor at UVA in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences.

Elizabeth Wenzel, PhD is a postdoctoral fellow under mentorship by Dr. Payne in the RPRP. She earned her PhD from the University of Illinois Chicago where she investigated how surging neuroactive steroid metabolites of progesterone in early pregnancy influence depression and anxiety symptoms in perinatal women. Her current work focuses on stress experiences and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis functioning in women who develop postpartum depression with and without identified epigenetic biomarkers of hormone sensitivity and risk for postpartum depression. Dr. Wenzel is currently a UVA BRAIN Institute Postdoctoral Fellow.

Email: rds3uy@uvahealth.org

Samia Khan
Sophomore
Email: kje3tp@uvahealth.org