Wimmer, who graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience, dedicated much of his time to volunteering with local organizations that serve youth with similar life experiences to his.<\/p>\n
As a member of the Hamilton Children\u2019s Aid Society Youth Advisory Committee, Wimmer draws on the 15 years he spent growing up in the foster care system to advise organizational leadership.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of foster parents don\u2019t really understand the struggles children go through while in care, and because of that, certain mental health issues are overlooked,\u201d he says. \u201cOur current project informs foster parents of these difficulties so they can identify them early and get youth the help they need so they can have a better experience in foster care.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wimmer also shares his time with charities supporting youth mental health. As a volunteer with Pathstone Mental Health\u2019s Rotary House group home, he provides companionship to youth who are temporarily living away from their families to receive mental health treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cReflecting on my own pain, I can see it in other youth and know what they need to help them through their issues,\u201d he says. \u201cIt is really fulfilling to turn my negative experiences into a positive for other people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through his studies in neuroscience and cognition, Wimmer\u2019s fascination with human perception \u2014 and with how experiences shape perception \u2014 has repositioned how he views his own childhood upbringing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I experienced then is a completely different world than how I look at it now,\u201d he says. \u201cPerception forms your reality, and everyone\u2019s perception is different.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wimmer has been involved in neuroscience research throughout his undergraduate studies, earning undergraduate student research funding<\/a> from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, which is supported by the Government of Canada.<\/p>\n He is currently preparing a first author scientific publication exploring memory processing under the supervision of Gaynor Spencer, Director of Brock\u2019s Centre for Neuroscience. His undergraduate thesis project, which examined the effects of retinoic acid on the electrical communication between brain cells, culminated in a second authorship on another scientific publication.<\/p>\n He plans to continue his research in computational cognitive neuroscience and will eventually study at the post-graduate level.<\/p>\n
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