• Email – enochazasu@wustl.edu
  • CV

Research Philosophy

As an applied social work researcher, I am committed to developing and transmitting knowledge that is grounded in theory and empirical research. Over 700,000 persons die by suicide annually and 77% of that occur in low- and middle-income countries according to the World Health Organization. The age group affected most by suicide are adolescents and young adults 15 to 29 years. I therefore came into the Social Work Doctoral Program at Washington University to be an expert in the field of mental health and advance science in suicidology, bearing in mind the theories, research methods, statistical and analytical approaches pertaining to the field. 

Enoch Kordjo Azasu received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Ghana in 2010 and worked at the Psychology Department tutoring students and leading laboratory experiments in Cognitive Psychology specifically Learning, Attention, Memory and Recall. In 2011, he began working as the administrator for Vine Christian School in Accra, a position he occupied for 6 years. Enoch then pursued an MBA in Total Quality Management from the University of Professional Studies in Ghana and graduated in 2016.

In 2017, Enoch was awarded as the McDonnell Academy Scholar for Ghana after being admitted into the Master of Social Work program at the Brown School of Washington University in St Louis. In 2019, he was admitted into the Social Work PhD program and was awarded McDonnell Academy Scholar for that year. At the Brown School, he works with the Race and Opportunity Lab as a Research Associate and Data Manager. The Race lab work centers on social mobility outcomes, mental health and suicide prevention among black boys and young men.

Enoch’s primary area of research examines suicide in the African diaspora i.e. why do people die by suicide in Africa? For his dissertation, “Prevalence, Sociocultural Risks and Protective Factors of Suicidal Behaviors: A Cross Sectional Study of Middle School Students (Junior High) in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana”, he is using quantitative methods to examine commonalities and differences in the demographic correlates, socio-cultural risk, and protective factors of suicide thoughts and behaviors among a sample of middle school students in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. Enoch’s dissertation proposal won the Ideas Matter US-Based Scholars Award Grant for 2022 as well as the Washington University Graduate School International Dissertation Grant.

Enoch loves doing community work and has served the youth in his community with passion for more than a decade. He is the founder of STAY Ghana, a non profit that focuses on suicide prevention among Ghanaian youth.

Enoch enjoys music, traveling and spending time with his family.