PETALING JAYA, Aug 19 — He's only 15-years-old, but Heman Bekele has developed an innovative soap that could significantly change how skin cancers, including melanoma, are treated.
And for that, the 15-year-old from Annandale, Virginia, has been named Time magazine’s 2024 Kid of the Year.
Born in Addis Ababa before moving to the US with his family at the age of just four, Bekele’s scientific journey began at age seven with experiments involving household chemicals.
This early curiosity laid the groundwork for what was to follow.
His achievements were previously recognized in 2023 when he was named America’s Top Young Scientist by 3M and Discovery Education.
At just 14, Bekele outshone nine other finalists to win the prestigious title and a $25,000 (RM110,000) cash prize.
The Kid of the Year award, introduced in 2020, celebrates exceptional young individuals in the US for their contributions to society. Previous winners include Gitanjali Rao, honoured for her work on clean drinking water and cyberbullying, and Orion Jean, for his “Race to Kindness” campaign.
“I hope my work inspires other young scientists to pursue their ideas and make a difference,” he said.
The soap, still in the testing phase, holds promise for making cancer treatments more accessible and affordable, though it is not yet commercially available and may take up to a decade to receive FDA approval,
Bekele’s work has already garnered significant attention from the scientific community.
“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,” Bekele told Time.
