In August, Time Magazine named 15-year-old Heman Bekele as Time’s Kid of the Year.
Bekele stands out for his exceptional work in developing a skin cancer-treating soap.
At four years old, he moved to America with his family from Addis Ababa.
As a small child, Heman Bekele loved to mix substances and materials out of sheer curiosity.
You may have childhood memories of pouring out entire shampoo bottles, bubble bath and shaving cream into the tub or the sink.
Watching it change colour and foam up can be very satisfying and taps into that childlike wonder we all possess.
This initially prompted Bekele to experiment but it developed into a more intentional practice.
Heman Bekele’s creative process
He began mixing common household chemicals like dish soap and laundry detergent. Then, he would stash the “potions” under his bed to see what would happen overnight.
His parents noticed his hobby and gifted Bekele a chemistry set when he was 7 years old. It changed the course of his life.
Up to that point, he was already researching chemical reactions and was ready to step it up a notch.
His new set came with sodium hydroxide, which opened new doors for his scientific mind.
Bekele knew that sodium hydroxide can produce a lot of heat when combined with aluminum. Therefore, he believed he could harness that to create a source of renewable energy.
However, his bold experimentations almost burned the house down. But his drive would also light a fire that kindled his ambition to go farther, just in a safer capacity.
Hemen Bekele: Time Magazine’s Kid of the Year
Last fall, Bekele entered and won the Young Scientist Challenge hosted by the 3M company and Discovery Education.
He earned it by inventing a soap that could potentially treat and prevent different types of skin cancer.
While the product is not ready to market, it shows immense promise and has been welcomed by the medical community.
Bekele has been working relentlessly to develop his work at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.
Skin cancer and the dangers of sun exposure were prominent topics of discussion throughout his childhood.
Growing up in such a hot environment with strong UV exposure, his parents emphasized the importance of skin protection.
Some of his earliest memories are of labourers working for hours under the sun without any sunscreen or coverage.
Heman Bekele’s here to help
Bekele felt a need to help. He was inspired by imiquimod, a front-line cancer-fighting drug that can destroy tumors and comes as a cream.
He considered ways to make it more accessible to people at the earliest points of cancer and came up with the soap idea.
Skin-cancer treatment typically costs $40,000, therefore such a product could have a priceless impact.
The road to bringing his amazing idea to its destination is a long yet inspiring one. And Heman Bekele is up for the task.
He will continue working at the lab while attending high school.
For more about Herman Bekele, click here.
Stop by here for more stories like this.
