The 15-Year-Old Who Might Change the Future of Skin Cancer Treatment: Meet TIME’s 2024 Kid of the Year
In a world where young minds are often underestimated, one teenager has taken a monumental step towards potentially revolutionizing cancer treatment.
A Young Innovator with a Vision Beyond His Years
At just 15 years old, Heman Bekele from Fairfax County, Virginia, is already making waves in the scientific community. What began as a curiosity about the effects of sunlight on skin has blossomed into an invention that could alter the future of skin cancer treatment.
Bekele, the son of Ethiopian immigrants, grew up observing the toll that harsh sun exposure took on the skin of those around him, planting the seeds for his groundbreaking idea. “I saw so many people that were working really long hours under the hot sun,” he reflects. This observation, paired with his passion for chemistry, led him to an astonishing realization: What if skin cancer treatment could be as simple as using soap?
The Revolutionary Soap That Could Treat and Prevent Skin Cancer
Bekele’s invention is a bar of soap, but it’s no ordinary cleanser. Infused with a compound that delivers medication directly to the skin, this soap is designed to treat and possibly even prevent skin cancers, including melanoma.
The article is not finished. Click on the next page to continue.
The article is not finished. Click on the next page to continue.
Next page
