Introducing PhD candidate Dean Essoh
On September 1st, 2025, Dean Essoh started his PhD at the University of Amsterdam. He belongs to a mixed NSMD team, led by Reinout Wiers and Bernet Elzinga, that aims to develop network-based personalized interventions for students with mental health problems.
During his Bachelor's and Research Master's programs at the University of Amsterdam, Dean Essoh majored in Clinical Psychology and minored in Psychological Methods, with his main research interest being the application of network modeling to improve mental health care. This was also the focus of his master's thesis, in which he examined whether incorporating cognitive mechanisms into longitudinal idiographic symptom networks could improve relapse prediction in depression.
In his PhD, Dean will further investigate the clinical utility of idiographic symptom networks. The project is embedded in the Caring Universities initiative, in which students can complete free online CBT programs. Along with the rest of his team, Dean will test whether personalizing these programs based on students' symptom networks enhances both treatment effectiveness and motivation.