A 15-year-old boy who created a soap that could “transform skin cancer treatment” has been chosen as the 2024 Kid of the Year by Time magazine and Time for Kids. Heman Bekele from Virginia, US, is a teen scientist “who could change how we treat skin cancer,” the outlet stated in its announcement released Thursday. He was chosen after he created a soap that could be a “more accessible way to deliver medication to treat skin cancers, including melanoma,” the magazine said. 

“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,” the 15-year-old told Time. “That’s the reason I started this all in the first place,” he added. 

Bekele has been seeing the effects of the sun on people’s skin since he was a young boy growing up in Ethiopia. He noticed many people working in the sun without protecting their skin, the outlet reported. 

Years later, after his family immigrated to the US, the 7-year-old Bekele got a chemistry set for Christmas that came with sodium hydroxide. It was then he began learning the power of chemical reactions. Around that time, he also started thinking more critically about the potential damage prolonged sun exposure can have on the human body. So, he became interested in the research surrounding skin cancer and its treatment. 

“I’m really passionate about skin cancer research,” he told the magazine. “Whether it’s my own research or what’s happening in the field.”

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Bekele eventually learned about imiquimod, a drug that was already approved to treat some forms of skin cancer. When used in a cream form, it can also help destroy tumours. So, the 15-year-old found a way to use imiquimod to treat earlier stages of skin cancer. 

“Almost everyone uses soap and water for cleaning. So soap would probably be the best option,” Bekele said about why he decided to develop a soap. 

Notably, there are still many stages to go before the soap is approved to be used as treatment. According to Time, Bekele potentially has about a decade to go before the soap is approved as a cancer treatment. In the meantime, he’s promoting it in presentations; that is when he’s not playing in the marching band and enjoying a game of chess.