Sean B. Rourke

Dr. Sean B. Rourke is an internationally renowned clinical neuropsychologist, scientist and social entrepreneur with MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael’s Hospital (Unity Health Toronto) and a professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto.

Born and raised in Windsor, Ont., he is the director of REACH Nexus, a national implementation science centre funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) that is solving complex health problems for people living with or at risk for HIV or other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs) in Canada.

Dr. Rourke completed a landmark clinical study to get the first HIV self-test approved in Canada in 2020. Since then, he has helped to get three more rapid point-of-care tests approved in Canada for HIV and syphilis testing. He has launched and scaled highly effective HIV testing initiatives and programs, including two national HIV self-testing programs which have reached close to 100,000 people to get tested with 100’s to “know their status” and then make decisions about their health.

In 2023, he developed and launched Our Healthbox, a “smart” interactive dispensing machine program that provides free and low barrier access to self-testing kits for HIV, essential harm reduction supplies, sexual health supplies, and other wellness supplies. These are now in 12 communities across Canada and more are coming.

In 2025, amid soaring rates of HIV and syphilis in Canada, he and a team of Indigenous leaders and HIV advocates, researchers, health care workers, government decision-makers and people with lived experiences launched The Ayaangwaamiziwin Centre  – an Ojibwe word for “carefulness and preparedness.” This ground-breaking initiative will “test, treat and link to culturally safe care” at least 10,000 people at risk for HIV and/or syphilis in the Prairies and an additional 1,500+ people in Yukon, Nunavut and Northwest Territories.

As part of reducing barriers and combatting HIV-related stigma, REACH Nexus is also leading a national anti-stigma project, The Positive Effect—which includes the pozcast podcast—that uses storytelling and sharing the lived experience of people living with HIV to build awareness and resilience. REACH Nexus’s research has clearly shown that we can’t end HIV in Canada without defeating HIV-related stigma—a common barrier to testing, care and social support.

Over his 30-year career, Dr. Rourke has focused on research, community-based health care and public health policy efforts to have “real life” impacts for people living with and affected by HIV and the communities where they live.

Other Appointments & Affiliations

• Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto
• Director, REACH Nexus
• Director, CIHR CBR Collaborative Centre