Heman Bekele, a 15-year-old Ethiopian immigrant living in Annandale, Virginia, has gained national recognition for his groundbreaking invention—a soap that could potentially treat skin cancer. Time Magazine has named him their 2024 Kid of the Year, highlighting his innovative approach to accessible healthcare solutions.
The announcement came on Thursday, with Time praising Bekele’s creation as a “more accessible way to deliver medication to treat skin cancers, including melanoma.” Bekele shared his excitement, saying, “It’s absolutely incredible to think that one day my bar of soap will be able to make a direct impact on somebody else’s life. That’s the reason I started this all in the first place.”
Bekele’s journey to this achievement is as inspiring as his invention. Born in Ethiopia, he migrated to the United States at the age of 4. His curiosity and love for science were cultivated from a young age, driven by his upbringing that encouraged asking questions and exploring knowledge. Reflecting on his early inspiration, Bekele recounted how watching laborers in Ethiopia work under harsh sunlight without UV protection spurred his interest in finding a solution.
Even as a child, Bekele was fascinated by science experiments, often entertaining himself by mixing various household chemicals. When considering how to make a global impact, he asked himself, “What is one thing that is an internationally impactful idea, something that everyone can use, [regardless of] socioeconomic class?” His answer was soap—an everyday item that nearly everyone uses.
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At just 14 years old, Bekele won the prestigious America’s Top Young Scientist competition in 2023, hosted by 3M and Discovery Education, where he competed against nine other finalists and took home a $25,000 prize. His mentor during the competition, 3M engineer Deborah Isabelle, commended Bekele’s achievement, saying, “Heman is an incredibly charismatic, curious, intelligent, articulate young man. But more than that, he’s compassionate and has a heart for people. He’s created an invention that has the potential to make the world better for so many people.”
While Bekele’s invention has garnered widespread attention, it still needs to undergo further stages of testing and approval before it can be used as a treatment. Currently, Bekele, a student at Woodson High School in Fairfax County, Virginia, conducts much of his research at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.
The scientific community and the public alike are eager to see how Bekele’s soap will progress as it moves through the necessary approval processes. His story is a testament to the power of curiosity, compassion, and the drive to create solutions that can benefit people across the world.
