About

Michael Koon Boon TAN, Ph.D.

Dean, Research and Knowledge Exchange
University of the Arts Singapore, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Research Division
Email: MTAN@nafa.edu.sg

orcid.org/0000-0001-8227-0407

My research interest lies at the intersection of art & design, health and wellbeing, and human flourishing. My effort to transform the landscape and culture of care can be observed in my creative practice, research, publications, teaching, collaborations and public engagements.

In my current role, I have developed the new MA in Design for Health, alongside my research responsibilities and PhD supervision.

Recent publications:

• Sonke, J., Tan, M. K. B., Lee, J Jennifer Lee, Pesata, V, Akram, S., Golden T., Morgan-Daniel. J,  Oduntan S., Abdulla S., Fancourt, D., Pratt, M. ,Miranda, Pyche, C, Wickramasinghe, K., Fietje, N, Sajnani. (Under Review). Engaging the arts for NCD prevention and health promotion: A mixed methods systematic review of the evidence.
• Lee, Jennifer Baxley, Sonke, J., Akram, S., Pesata, V., Tan, M.K.B., Oduntan, S. (Forthcoming). The arts in the prevention and management of chronic health conditions in Routledge Handbook of Arts and Health, Nicola Holt, Victoria, Tischler, Elisabetta Corvo and Sofia Vougioukalou (eds.), Routledge Link
• Tan, M. K. B., & Barnes, A. (2024). Dying matters – innovating spaces to foster end-of-life discussions with applied theatre. Arts & Health, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/17533015.2024.2419113
• Tan, M.K.B. (2022). Caring Consciousness, Participatory Art, and Well-Being: The Caring Artist. In: Crawford, P., Kadetz, P. (eds) Palgrave Encyclopedia of the Health Humanities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26825-1_146-1
• Ho, A. H. Y. , Ma, S. H. X., Tan, M. K. B., Goh, S. S. N., Yeo, G., Teng, A., Yang, Y.l., Galéry, K. & Beauchet, O. (2023) Effects of Participatory ‘A’rt-Based Activity On ‘Health’ of Older Community-Dwellers: Results from a Randomized Control Trial of the Singapore A-Health Intervention, Frontiers in Medicine, DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2023.1238562
• Ma, S. H. X., Tan, M. K. B., Goh, S. S. N., Yeo, G., Teng, A., Yang, Y.l., Galéry, K., Beauchet, O., & Ho, A. H. Y.  (2023) A Qualitative Examination on the Implementation of Participatory ‘A’rt-Based Activity On ‘Health’ of Older Community-Dwellers: What worked for the Singapore A-Health Intervention?. Frontiers in Medicine, DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2023.1238563
• Tan, M.K.B., Tan, C. M., Tan, S. G., Yoong, J & Gibbons, B. (2023) Connecting the Dots: The State of Arts and Health in Singapore, Arts & Health,15:2, 119- 134, DOI: 10.1080/17533015.2021.2005643
• Ho, A.H.Y., Ma, S.H.X.M, Tan, M.K.B., and Bajpai, R.C. (2021) A Randomized Waitlist-Controlled Trial of an Intergenerational Arts and Heritage-based Intervention in Singapore: Project ARTISAN, Frontier Psychology, DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.730709

In my previous appointment as an Assistant Professor at the School of Art, Design and Media (ADM), Nanyang Technological University, I led and contributed to arts & design for health development in Singapore by engaging stakeholders in the arts, design, health and social care sector to share and explore the potential of arts and design to improve experiences, services, and products related to health and wellbeing. I developed several platforms to support capability development. Through the Art and Design for Health (AD4H) Lab that I established, I provided an exploratory, critical and creative space for undergraduate, Master (Research) and PhD students to develop their art, design for health and wellbeing projects. My work on arts, ageing and wellbeing has also connected me with the MSc in Applied Gerontology programme at the School of Social Science at NTU. I was invited to develop and teach the interdisciplinary module on Arts, Ageing and Wellbeing. In addition, I was also a member of the Medical Humanities research cluster – School of Social Science.

Click to download CV

Qualifications

• PhD in Arts and Health (Durham University)
• M.A. in Photography and Urban Culture (Goldsmiths College)
• B.F.A. (School of the Art Institute of Chicago)

Achievements 

• Nanyang Award for Excellence in Teaching 2011
• National Arts Council Postgraduate Scholarship Award 2012

Fellowship & Research Capability Development

• NIHR GROW Mental Health Research Programme 2022, UK (Summer 2022) Link
• Visiting Research Fellow, Center for Art, Design and Social Research (CADSR),Cosmological Gardens, Encuentro VI: Cultivating Caring Cultures, Villa Pinciani, Spoleto, Italy Summer Jun/ JUL 2022

Selected Invited Appointment 

1. Invited member of the advisory board for the Design for Health Journal (2021- Present)
2. Invited Reviewer,  Design for Health Journal, Taylor and Francis, (2020- Present)
3. Invited Guest Editor, Special Topic A Critical Appraisal of Research in Arts, Health and Wellbeing, Frontiers (Health Psychology),(2020- Present)
4. External Reviewer (2021- 2025), Bachelor (Hons) Design Communication Lancaster University (Campus: Sunway University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
5. Invited Grant Reviewer (2019), The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development
6. Singapore Representative, Arts Health Early Career Research Network, UK (2017 – Present).
7. Member of Ng Teng Fong Hospital Art Advisory Group, JurongHealth (1 Jun 2014 – 30 Jun 2017)
8. Grant assessor, the Singapore International Foundation, Singapore Internationale Programme (1 Oct 2015 – 31 Mar 2017)
9. Board member, the Society for Arts in Healthcare, USA (15 Mar 2012 – 22 Jan 2013)

Programme and Course Development

• MA in Design for Health, Sheffield Hallam University, UK (Developed and approved 2021)
• Arts, Ageing and Wellbeing Module, MSc in Applied Gerontology programme, School of Social Science, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (Developed and approved 2018)
• Thinking Photography (Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Elective), School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (Co-developed with Assoc. Prof Oh Soon Hwa, 2018)

Academic Appointments

July 2024 – Present
Dean, Research and Knowledge Exchange
University of the Arts Singapore, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Research Division
Postgraduate education: PhD Supervision, MA Supervision, BA Supervision

May 2020 – June 2024
Associate Professor in Art and Design, Lab4Living, Sheffield Hallam University
Postgraduate Education: PhD Supervision, MA Design for Health Development, Course Lead- MA Design for Health

Sep 2007 – June 2020
Assistant Professor, Nanyang Technological University
School of Art, Design and Media, Member of Faculty – Undergraduate Education: 4D Foundation and Visual Communication; Postgraduate Education: MA Research and PhD supervision, MA Taught module – Thinking Photography – Co-teach with Assoc. Prof. Oh Soon Hwa

School of Social Science – Programme Faculty (2018 – Present), MSc in Applied Gerontology, Arts, Ageing and Wellbeing Module

Jan 2007 – Apr 2007
Part-Time Lecturer, Department of Visual and Performing Arts,
National Institute of Education, Singapore

Jan 2007 – May 2007
Part-Time Lecturer, Faculty of Media Arts
MA Supervisor, Faculty of Fine Arts
LaSalle-SIA College for the Arts, Singapore

Jan 2005 – Sept 2005
Part-Time Lecturer, Department of Visual and Performing Arts,
National Institute of Education, Singapore

Jul 2003 – Sept 2005
Part-Time Lecturer, Media Arts Department,
LaSalle-SIA College for the Arts, Singapore