Seminar | Bridging Communities and Science: My Path in Public Health

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Dr. Rayner Kay Jin TAN, Assistant Professor at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, will deliver an ONLINE seminar entitled “Bridging Communities and Science: My Path in Public Health” on 7 November 2025 (Friday).

His work focuses on HIV, mental health, and community engagement, with a strong emphasis on advocacy for marginalized populations across Southeast Asia. Notably, he has led impactful research on HIV prevention and implementation research among key populations, and has spearheaded community-based public health interventions in collaboration with local NGOs to address health inequities in culturally sensitive and sustainable ways.

In this talk, Dr. Tan will share his personal and professional journey, highlighting how public health science can be a tool for empowerment, inclusion, and systemic change. The talk will be moderated by Prof. Samuel WONG, Professor and Director,  JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Please find the event details below:

Date7 November 2025 (Friday)
Time1:00 PM – 2:00 PM (HKT)
ModeOnline
TopicBridging Communities and Science: My Path in Public Health
SpeakerDr. Rayner TAN
Assistant Professor
Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health
National University of Singapore
ModeratorProfessor Samuel WONG
Professor and Director
JC School of Public Health and Primary Care
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Registration deadline12:00 noon (HKT), 6 November 2025 (Thursday)

About the Speaker

Dr Rayner Kay Jin TAN is Assistant Professor and leads The Courage Lab at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore and National University Health System. He is an implementation and socio-behavioural scientist whose work spans areas of stigma and health, community engagement, and health equity.

Rayner was a recipient of the ASEAN Youth Fellowship 2024, Fulbright Visiting Research Scholarship 2022/2023, and the HIV, Infectious Disease and Global Health Implementation Research Institute (HIGH-IRI) fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis. He is currently deputy editor of the Journal of the International AIDS Society, and Associate Editor at the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

He is also Head of Research at The Greenhouse Community Services Limited, a charity offering substance use recovery services, and a board member of Project X Society serving the needs of sex workers. He serves as the Treasurer for the Society of Behavioural Health, Singapore and is a co-lead at SG Mental Health Matters. He is also a co-lead of Project Hayat, a community-led initiative to develop a national suicide prevention strategy in Singapore, and a representative on the Singapore Ministry of Health’s Agency for Care Effectiveness (ACE) Consumer Panel.

About the Moderator

Professor Samuel WONG is a clinician with training and experience in both Family Medicine and Public Health. He earned his Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the University of Toronto and completed his Family Medicine residency in Canada. Furthering his education, he obtained a Master of Public Health (MPH) from Johns Hopkins University in the USA and a Doctor of Medicine (MD) research degree from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK).

Currently, Professor Wong serves as the Director of the School of Public Health and Primary Care at CUHK, where he also directs the Master of Public Health Programme and the Thomas Jing Centre for Mindfulness Research and Training. Since July 2019, he has held the position of Associate Dean (Education) at the Faculty of Medicine at CUHK. His international roles include being a Global Faculty Member of the Stanford Medicine Centre for Asian Health Research and Education (CARE) since 2022. In recognition of his contributions, Professor Wong was awarded the Faculty of Medicine Outstanding Fellowship in 2021. His research interests are primarily focused on the evaluation and development of mindfulness-based and mental health interventions in primary care, as well as the evaluation and development of primary care services and models, particularly in the context of multimorbidity.