Crystal Smit is assistant professor in Clinical Child and Family Studies at the Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies. She is also lab manager of the Erasmus Movez Lab—a research team with a shared interest in youth, digital media, and well-being. Her research focuses on motivating healthy behaviors among youth, while taking into account the influences in their social networks. In co-creation with the targeted youth, she investigates how effective (online) health campaigns implementing social influencers can be developed. As lab manager at the Movez Lab, she focuses on the connection between research and society. 

Crystal holds a Bachelor's degree in Pedagogical Sciences and a Research Master's degree in Behavioral Sciences from Radboud University in Nijmegen. Subsequently she started working on her PhD project embedded in the MyMovez project, led by Prof. Moniek Buijzen. In 2021, she successfully defended her PhD thesis, titled Motivating Healthy Drinking Behaviors among Children: The Effects of the Share H₂O Social Network Intervention, at the Behavioural Science Institute of Radboud University. For a full scientific curriculum vitae and e-book of her dissertation, please visit crystalsmit.com.