Rayner Tan

Rayner Tan is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Project-China (UNC Project-China) in Guangzhou, China, and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore and the National Centre for Infectious Diseases in Singapore. He is the lead author of the SG Mental Health Matters public consultation 2021 report.

Tan graduated with a Ph.D. from the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, with his studies being sponsored by The Courage Fund. He is also the Treasurer of the Society of Behavioural Health and is a social scientist conducting research on HIV, sexually transmitted infections and substance use.

In 2018, Tan published a total of 4 manuscripts (3 of them as the first author) in peer-reviewed journals, with 5 more currently under review (3 of them as the first author). Some of the papers formed part of his Ph.D. thesis on the sociocultural determinants of HIV/STI testing among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Singapore, while others focused on pertinent issues in HIV prevention such as the implementation and roll-out of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis in Singapore, and on sexualised substance use among MSM.

Tan has made several poster presentations at the 22nd International AIDS Conference (2018), the STI 2018 pre-conference in Amsterdam (4 poster presentations), and at the Singapore Health and Biomedical Congress 2018 (2 poster presentations; photo attached). In terms of oral presentations, he was invited as faculty at the Singapore Health and Biomedical Congress 2018 to speak at the Sexual Health Symposium on Sociobehavioural Approaches to HIV/STI, and as an invited speaker at several scientific and policy meetings across the year, such as the quarterly Sexual Health Workgroup Meetings, Society of Behavioural Health Singapore’s Scientific Meeting, NCID HIV Grand Round, and at the Institute of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Research Round. In 2019, he served as a discussant at a public lecture by Dr Judith Auerbach, a prominent sociologist in the field of HIV science, and will be a panelist at the 11th Singapore AIDS Conference. Tan was a founding member, and has been appointed as the Pro-Tem Treasurer, of the Society of Behavioural Health and was part of the organising committee for its inaugural Scientific Meeting held on 29 September 2018. Currently, he is the SSHSPH graduate research student representative for the 2nd term. He has also volunteered as an Abstract Mentor for the 10th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science that was held in Mexico City in 2019, and he celebrated a new milestone in his professional research career by serving as a manuscript reviewer (International Journal of Drug Policy; 2017 Impact Factor 4.244).

He has successfully been awarded the SSHSPH Infectious Diseases Programme Research Grant as a principal investigator with a total funding of SGD$30,000 for a study entitled Effectiveness of an online video intervention to address internalised homophobia and improve sexual health outcomes among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men: a pragmatic, randomised controlled trial (RCT). This RCT involved a collaboration with Action for AIDS to evaluate the efficacy of mHealth initiatives on primary and secondary HIV prevention strategies among MSM in Singapore. He has also received a SGD$50,000 funding from NUHS SPHERiC as a co-investigator for a project entitled Predictors of syndemic risks among a young gay and bisexual male cohort: a prospective cohort study. This is a prospective cohort study that attempts to identify sociocultural determinants of HIV/STI risk among MSM in Singapore. These studies will contribute to his PhD thesis as well. 

=Publications=

Articles

 * Chemsex among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men in Singapore and the challenges ahead: A qualitative study, RKJ Tan, CM Wong, I Mark, C Chen, YY Chan, MAB Ibrahim, OZ Lim, International Journal of Drug Policy 61, 31-37	17,	2018.
 * Decriminalisation of Same-sex Relations and Social Attitudes: An Empirical Study of Singapore, LJ Chua, D Su, RKJ Tan, KW Jie, Hong Kong Law Journal 47, 793-824	14*,	2017.
 * Clinics as spaces of costly disclosure: HIV/STI testing and anticipated stigma among gay, bisexual and queer men, RKJ Tan, N Kaur, PA Kumar, E Tay, A Leong, MIC Chen, CS Wong, Culture, health & sexuality 22 (3), 307-320	10,	2020.
 * Extent and selectivity of sexual orientation disclosure and its association with HIV and other STI testing patterns among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, RKJ Tan, AKJ Teo, N Kaur, J Harrison-Quintana, CS Wong, I Mark, Sexually transmitted infections 95 (4), 273-278	9,	2019.
 * “Not a walking piece of meat with disease”: meanings of becoming undetectable among HIV-positive gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men in the U= U era, RKJ Tan, JM Lim, JKW Chan, AIDS care 32 (3), 325-329	7,	2020.
 * Internalized homophobia, HIV knowledge, and HIV/AIDS personal responsibility beliefs: Correlates of HIV/AIDS discrimination among MSM in the context of institutionalized stigma, RKJ Tan, Journal of Homosexuality 66 (8), 1082-1103	7,	2019.
 * Developing a typology of HIV/STI testing patterns among gay, bisexual, and Queer men: a framework to guide interventions, RKJ Tan, N Kaur, MIC Chen, CS Wong, Qualitative Health Research 30 (4), 610-621	4,	2020.
 * Trends in unprotected intercourse among heterosexual men before and after brothel ban in Siem Reap, Cambodia: a serial cross-sectional study (2003–2012), ML Wong, AKJ Teo, BC Tai, AMT Ng, RBT Lim, DKT Tham, N Kaur, BMC public health 18 (1), 411	4,	2018.
 * Cost and anonymity as factors for the effective implementation of pre-exposure prophylaxis: an observational study among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men in …, RKJ Tan, AKJ Teo, N Kaur, J Harrison-Quintana, I Mark, C Chen, Sexual health 15 (6), 533-541	4,	2018.
 * “Do I need to or do I want to?” A typology of HIV status disclosure among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, JM Lim, RKJ Tan, JKW Chan, AIDS care 32 (sup2), 142-147	1,	2020.
 * Mobilizing civil society for the HIV treatment cascade: a global analysis on democracy and its association with people living with HIV who know their status, RKJ Tan, CS Wong, Journal of the International AIDS Society 22 (8), e25374	1,	2019.
 * Acceptability of HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Opinions on PrEP Service Delivery Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in Singapore: A Qualitative Study, CS Wong, PA Kumar, CM Wong, BCH Choong, OZ Lim, YY Chan, AIDS Education and Prevention 31 (2), 152-162	1,	2019.
 * Research news in clinical context, K Shields, RKJ Tan, S Rusconi, C Xiang-Sheng, Sexually Transmitted Infections 96 (8), 553-554,		2020.
 * Delineating Patterns of Sexualized Substance use and its Association with Sexual and Mental Health Outcomes Among Young Gay, Bisexual and Queer Men in Singapore: A Latent Class …, RKJ Tan, CA O’Hara, WL Koh, D Le, A Tan, A Tyler, C Tan, C Kwok, 2020.
 * Potential interactions between the pathways to diagnosis of HIV and other STIs and HIV self-testing: insights from a qualitative study of gay, bisexual and other men who have …, RKJ Tan, YY Chan, MAB Ibrahim, LP Ho, OZ Lim, BCH Choong, Sexually Transmitted Infections,	2020.
 * Characterizing and measuring tuberculosis stigma in the community: a mixed-methods study in Cambodia, AKJ Teo, RKJ Tan, C Smyth, V Soltan, S Eng, C Ork, N Sok, S Tuot, Open forum infectious diseases 7 (10), ofaa422,		2020.
 * A Latent Class Analysis of COVID-19 Testing Response, Globalisation, and Democracy with National COVID-19 Outcomes: A Global Ecological Study, VVX Lim, K Prem, AKJ Teo, RKJ Tan, LANGLH-D-20-02931,		2020.
 * STI perspectives, G Villa, SK Edwards, RKJ Tan, Sexually Transmitted Infections 96 (6), 393-394,		2020.
 * Conducting rapid qualitative research to support sex workers’ health and social needs in the face of COVID-19: capitalising on stakeholder networks from the HIV response in …, RKJ Tan, JM Lim, JJM Lo, AKJ Teo, CA O'Hara, AH Ching, V Ho, Sexually Transmitted Infections,	2020.
 * Concealment of Potential Exposure to COVID-19 and Its Impact on Outbreak Control: Lessons from the HIV Response, AKJ Teo, RKJ Tan, K Prem, The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, tpmd200449,		2020.
 * Research news in clincal context, SK Edwards, F Ceccherini-Silberstein, RKJ Tan, Sexually Transmitted Infections 96 (3), 235-236,		2020.
 * Effect of a web drama video series on HIV and other sexually transmitted infection testing among gay, bisexual and queer men: study protocol for a community-based, pragmatic …, RKJ Tan, WL Koh, D Le, A Tan, A Tyler, C Tan, S Banerjee, CS Wong, BMJ open 10 (4), e033855,	2020.
 * Individual, interpersonal, and situational factors influencing HIV and other STI risk perception among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men: a qualitative study, RKJ Tan, N Kaur, MIC Chen, CS Wong, AIDS care, 1-6,		2020.
 * Protocol: Effect of a web drama video series on HIV and other sexually transmitted infection testing among gay, bisexual and queer men: study protocol for a community-based …, RKJ Tan, WL Koh, D Le, A Tan, A Tyler, C Tan, S Banerjee, CS Wong, BMJ Open 10 (4),		2020.
 * Socioecological differences in factors associated with inconsistent condom use with female sex workers and casual partners: an observational study of heterosexual men attending …, K Takashima, GWJ Yeoh, HE Chua, PLM Ting, JY Chong, RKJ Tan, Sexual Health 16 (6), 593-595,		2019.
 * Proceedings of Inaugural Scientific Meeting & Symposiums, J Chen, C Ang, K Griva, WC Seong, F Lei, R Tan, WM Lian, 2018.
 * Correlates of HIV/AIDs Discrimination in Men who Have Sex with Men: the Case of Singapore, KJR Tan, Singapore Management University,		2016.
 * Reflections on an interdisciplinary curriculum and pedagogical approaches in a public health course, J Azfar, RKJ Tan.

=See also=
 * PrEP in Singapore

=References=
 * https://www.linkedin.com/in/rayner-kay-jin-tan-02290224/?originalSubdomain=sg
 * https://scholar.google.com.sg/citations?user=gkSLCMcAAAAJ&hl=en
 * https://nus.academia.edu/RaynerTan/CurriculumVitae
 * https://sph.nus.edu.sg/giving/giving-stories/ay18-19/rayner-tan/
 * https://sph.nus.edu.sg/2020/04/lets-talk-public-health-with-rayner-tan/
 * https://ipscommons.sg/going-beyond-a-task-force-to-build-a-mentally-healthy-nation/

=Acknowledgements=

This article was written by Roy Tan.