Nicholas C. Jacobson

Nicholas C. Jacobson is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Data Science and Psychiatry at the Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College. He serves as the Director of the Treatment Development & Evaluation Core within the Center for Technology and Behavioral Health (CTBH) and leads the AI and Mental Health: Innovation in Technology Guided Healthcare (AIM HIGH) Laboratory. His work bridges computational methods with clinical applications to transform mental healthcare through technology.

Dr. Jacobson earned his PhD in Psychology from Pennsylvania State University in 2019, following an MSc in Psychology from the same institution in 2015. He completed his Postdoctoral and Clinical Fellowships in Psychology at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School in 2019.

Dr. Jacobson's research focuses on harnessing artificial intelligence and passive sensor data from smartphones and wearable devices to develop scalable, personalized interventions for anxiety and depression. His work has three main pillars: (1) enhancing precision assessment of anxiety and depression using intensive longitudinal data, (2) conducting multimethod assessment utilizing passive sensor data from smartphones and wearable devices, and (3) providing scalable, personalized technology-based treatments utilizing smartphones. As a computational psychologist, he created the Differential Time-Varying Effect Model (DTVEM), an innovative statistical package in R that allows researchers to discover and model optimal lag times in intensive longitudinal data. His methodological expertise encompasses machine learning, structural equation modeling, multilevel modeling, time-series techniques, and dynamical systems modeling.

His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on digital phenotyping, machine learning applications in mental health, and personalized interventions. The research spans multiple domains including depression symptom networks, anxiety disorder assessment, eating disorder prevention, and the use of passive sensing to understand mental health conditions. A notable trend is the application of advanced computational methods to create more precise and personalized mental health assessments and interventions, with increasing emphasis on real-world implementation and accessibility.

• Principal Investigator of an R01 Award from the National Institute of Mental Health studying personalized deep learning models to predict rapid changes in major depressive disorder symptoms
• Secured over $6 million in funding as Principal Investigator and over $20 million as a co-Investigator
• Featured on NBC Nightly News and CBS Morning News for pioneering work in AI-powered mental health applications

Dr. Jacobson has developed several impactful digital tools including Therabot, a generative AI therapy chatbot that demonstrated substantial reductions in symptoms of major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and feeding and eating disorders in its first randomized controlled trial. He also developed Mood Triggers, a smartphone sensing platform that integrates ecological momentary assessment and intervention to help users identify and manage anxiety and depression triggers. His suite of smartphone applications has reached over 50,000 users in more than 100 countries. Dr. Jacobson is actively recruiting team members and encourages interested individuals to contact him through his personal website.

He directs the AIM HIGH Laboratory, which focuses on advancing AI applications in mental healthcare. The lab develops innovative computational approaches to enhance mental health assessment and treatment through technology. Current projects include using passive sensor data to predict symptom changes, developing personalized just-in-time adaptive interventions, and creating quantitative tools that enable precision mental healthcare.