Taboo Health

WHO WE ARE

We are comfortable with the uncomfortable. 
We are a non-profit collective of health educators, creatives, and advocates.
We curate public and and interactive art events that explore the most difficult health topics.

OUR VISION

Art is powerful. It is a channel through which we can explore complex and emotionally or socially challenging issues in health.
Evidence matters. We use research, facts, and figures to inspire artwork and inform the audience.
​Dialogue is necessary. We promote a space where taboo health topics can be discussed openly, and provide tools to facilitate these difficult talks.

THE TEAM

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Maria Cheung
 Founder and CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Maria is a serial dreamer, creator and adventurer. She is a policy maker in acute care and a public health nerd (MPH). She is passionate about health communications, health promotion and systems design with the arts sector. She is endlessly fascinated by the beautiful, awkward and uncomfortable spaces felt in between the black and white.

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Leonardo Tenan
Operations

​Leonardo is driven to create platforms for dialogue through video and event production. With a background in broadcast journalism and interest in new media, he has worked with organizations such as the CBC, St. Joseph’s Hospital, TIFF, and the Art Gallery of Hamilton, to create awareness through documentaries, educational materials, and events.


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Karen Oikonen
Experience designer & co-curator
Equal parts designer and researcher, Karen has led projects focused on exploring the experiences of death and dying through design research, service design and participatory design practice. As an Innovation Designer with The Moment, she is most interested in understanding the complexities of human experience, within environments, systems, networks, and communities, as a catalyst for positive change.
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Naushin Vasta
Social media
Naushin is an MBA graduate who specializes in Health Services Management. Through her professional career she has accumulated experiences in both the public and private health care sector and currently works in health care policy for Ontario’s critical care system. Naushin can also be defined by her passion and love for the arts and music and can often be found exploring her inner creative through her extracurricular activities.
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Sheena Melwani
Partnerships and event planning


Sheena works in health technology at the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation. She is a product manager by day and involves herself in discussions on ethical issues by night. She is especially interested in how diverse societies can address ethical issues while accommodating different belief systems.


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Natalie Zizzo
Communications 


Natalie is studying occupational therapy and previously worked in research ethics. She has a Masters in bioethics and has published and presented on a range of bioethics issues. She is passionate about engaging patients, clinicians and the public in discussions on issues related to patient-centred care, palliative care, and healthcare ethics.



Join us

If you're interested in contributing art, volunteering for us, partnering with us, or supporting us, contact us.
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