Kristell Penfornis is a PhD student at the Health, Medical and Neuropsychology unit of the Institute of Psychology. She researches the role of identity processes in smoking cessation and physical activity promotion.

More information about Kristell Penfornis

Kristell Penfornis is a PhD student at the Health, Medical and Neuropsychology unit of the Institute of Psychology. She researches the role of identity processes in smoking cessation and physical activity promotion.

Research on identity and smoking

Her research aims at gaining a better understanding of how identity processes, meaning how we view ourselves, impact an individual's ability to quit smoking and engage in physical activity. By examining these factors, new ways can be identified to improve smoking cessation and physical activity programs to make them more effective.

Perfect Fit project

This research is part of a larger national research project called Perfect Fit. The primary goal of the Perfect Fit project is to provide tailored, evidence-based, near real-time coaching for individuals to achieve and maintain abstinence from smoking and engage in sufficient physical activity. Users will be coached to quit smoking and increase their physical activity by a virtual coach on their mobile phone.

Penfornis played a leading role in designing the Perfect Fit intervention and coordinated the development of the content used in Perfect Fit the application

Short CV

Kristell Penfornis was born and raised in France and moved to the Netherlands in 2010 for her studies. She obtained a BA in Business Administration in 2014 after which she worked in a multinational firm in Amsterdam. Not feeling a complete fit for the corporate world and having always had a strong interest in human behavior and thinking, she finally made the shift to the field of psychology.

She obtained her Health & Medical Psychology MSc degree in 2019 (cum laude) at Leiden University and started her PhD at the Health, Medical and Neuropsychology unit shortly after. In parallel to her PhD, she works as a medical psychologist at the cardiology clinic of the Leiden University Medical Center, where she helps patients with psychosocial troubles following heart problems. She is also involved in internal projects promoting healthy lifestyle.

Prior to her current roles, Penfornis worked as a research assistant at Erasmus MC. She also completed an internship in the Lifestyle & Medical Psychology department at the Cardiology Clinic at LUMC, where she worked on psychodiagnostics, screening, triage, and the implementation of lifestyle interventions for patients with cardiac issues.