Dr. Payne is a Professor of Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania and Director of the Penn Clinical Autoimmunity Center of Excellence. Her research has focused on mechanisms and treatments of autoimmunity, including: 1) cloning and characterization of B cell repertoires to understand how autoimmunity occurs in the model autoantibody-mediated blistering disease pemphigus, which has discovered common features of the B cell response among patients; 2) cell biologic studies to identify mechanisms for loss of cell adhesion, which has identified the p38/MK2 axis and Stat3 as key regulators of desmosome adhesion in keratinocytes; and 3) patient-oriented research to improve therapy, which has led to a better understanding of B cell depletion strategies as well as novel  strategies for targeted therapy of disease. Her laboratory invented chimeric autoantibody receptor (CAAR) T cell technology for antigen-specific B cell depletion, which is currently being evaluated in a first-in-human trial to evaluate whether a precision cellular immunotherapy approach can lead to lasting autoimmune disease remission. Dr. Payne received her BS in Biology from Stanford University and her MD/PhD from Washington University School of Medicine, followed by residency and postdoctoral fellowship training in Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania.  Outside of Penn, Dr. Payne serves on the NIAMS Board of Scientific Counselors and International Pemphigus and Pemphigoid Foundation Medical Advisory Council, and is the co-founder and co-chair of the Scientific Advisory Board at Cabaletta Bio, focused on developing novel targeted cellular immunotherapies for B cell-mediated diseases. At Penn, Dr. Payne serves as Associate Director of the Medical Scientist Training Program and faculty advisor for the Association of Women Student MD-PhDs (AWSM), through which she enjoys interacting with the larger physician-scientist community.