15-Year-Old Wins Time's Kid of the Year for Cancer-Fighting Soap

Heman Bekele, a 15-years-old wonder child from Fairfax County, Virginia, is Time’s 2024 Kid of the Year. The prodigy was awarded the title for nothing less than creation of an original soap aimed to cure and prevent skin cancer. Being lipid-based, the emulsion promotes the delivery of the active principles, namely imiquimod, which is known to be effective in treatment of skin cancer. In addition, the innovative nature of its novel development allows keeping the cost of the final product at minimum, thus allowing people worldwide to easily afford it.

Despite the success, young scientist faced numerous obstacles within the process, including protection of his invention, as well as huge governmental regulations associated with the need of approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Having been born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and moving to the U.S. at the age of four, Bekele remembers the challenging conditions of landscaping the locals had to satisfy, being the initial stimuli for developing the product which ultimately allowed him national recognition.

First attempts to synthesize the substance were put with the help of the chemistry set young boy received for Christmas, 2011, development of the product was followed by its numerous prizes, monetary award of $25,000 delivered by 3M Young Scientist Challenge being one of them. Nowadays, the development is advancing in the laboratory of molecular biologist Vito Rebecca at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Undoubtedly, this new achievement not only proves young scientist to be a real prodigy but clearly demonstrates his passion and willingness to contribute to general healthcare system.