Josh Silvertown - 2010 Synapse Mentorship Award Recipient - Individual Researcher

In 2005, Dr. Josh Silvertown created his DreamCatcher Mentoring program (DCM) as a way to address the increasing high school dropout rates among northern Canadian youth. With the education divide between the ‘north and south’ in Canada, DCM is an innovative approach to bridge this gap by empowering students to realize the rewards of staying in school. Since 2005, Dr. Silvertown has established electronic mentorships between over 600 Grade 9-12 Yukon and Nunavut students and Canadian mentors from around the world who work in the students’ aspired ‘dream careers’ (a majority of which include health and medical professions). The tutorials and guidance provided by these respective mentors have helped 94% of student participants stay in school and graduate. Some have even decided to pursue post-secondary programs in health sciences. In addition to DCM, Dr. Silvertown has been involved in mentoring programs with Big Brothers since 1997 as both a Big Brother and a member of the Board of Directors of the Guelph-Wellington Chapter, and has been responsible for implementing youth science and engineering leadership programs in Ontario as well as the Northwest Territories for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities. Following his PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Guelph, Dr. Silvertown spent three years as a Postdoctoral Fellow conducting prostate cancer research at the Ontario Cancer Institute in Toronto. He also holds an MBA (specializing in the Health Sector) from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. Dr. Silvertown has taught science courses at the University of Guelph, Michener Institute, Humber College, and the Togliatti Academy of Management. He is currently the Vice President of Corporate Development for Quantum Dental Technologies, a medical device start-up company in Toronto. He is also the CEO and Founder of Armour Therapeutics Inc.