She completed her residency in psychiatry at Johns Hopkins and then completed a fellowship in mood disorders through the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program at the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Payne joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 2003. She founded the Johns Hopkins Women's Mood Disorders Center, which she currently directs. In addition to providing outstanding clinical care for women with mood disorders, Dr. Payne conducts research into the genetic, biological, and environmental factors involved in postpartum depression and is a specialist in the management of psychiatric disorders during and after pregnancy.