Heman Bekele Is TIME’s 2024 Kid of the Year
Meet the 15-year-old scientist who could change how we treat skin cancer.
Transcript
00:00My name is Heman Bekele, I'm 15 years old and I love science, creating, and I recently
00:08made skin cancer treating soap.
00:16My interest in skin cancer came growing up in Ethiopia, where I saw so many people that
00:21were working really long hours under the hot sun.
00:24But when I came here to America, I realized how big of a problem the sun and UV radiation
00:29is when you're exposed to it for really long periods of time.
00:32And so that's what inspired me to go towards skin cancer, because really right now there
00:36are no affordable and accessible alternatives to the really pricey treatment in the market.
00:49Far before I was mixing ingredients for soap, I would just mix together potions looking
00:53for a reaction.
00:54I would call them potions, but really they were just dish soap, laundry detergent, common
00:59household chemicals, and you know, hide them under my bed, see what would happen if I left
01:03them overnight.
01:04So, my parents always worried I would one day burn down the house, and it never ended
01:08up happening.
01:09But at that age, I was more just developing initial curiosity.
01:29The 3M Young Scientist Challenge was where I first was given the platform to share my
01:41ideas.
01:42What is the universal product that almost everybody uses or knows how to use?
01:47Cream, kind of, lotion, kind of, they could all work.
01:51But really soap, everybody, almost everybody uses soap, water, some form of cleaning.
01:56And so as that universal product, we chose that soap would probably be the best option.
02:02Doesn't the active ingredient rinse off when the soap rinses off?
02:07That's a great question.
02:08So the purpose of the lipid-based nanoparticle is it wraps around the drug itself, which
02:13is imiquimod.
02:14And so once the nanoparticles are loaded with that drug, what happens is the bar of soap
02:19goes onto the skin, the water would wash the soaps and suds away, but then the drug would
02:23stay on the skin at a very molecular level.
02:27I had a lot of mentors, and I always stress the importance of mentorship.
02:30And they really did help me with not only getting the ingredients, but also learning
02:34how to synthesize lipid-based nanoparticles.
02:38I personally hope one day that skin cancer treating soap can turn into a more not-for-profit
02:43organization where we can really just distribute it to people that need it the most.
02:49So what do you do for fun?
02:51For one, the marching band season is starting up again, and I love participating in marching
02:55band.
02:56As well as that, I play chess, which is something that I absolutely love.
03:00I love to read.
03:01I love playing basketball.
03:03I just try to fit in time when I'm not doing research to pursue my own hobbies, not necessarily
03:08to be the best at them, but just to have a really good time.
03:12A lot of people have this mindset that everything's been done, there's nothing left for me to
03:16do.
03:17To anybody having that thought, we'll never run out of ideas in this world.
03:20Just keep inventing, keep thinking of new ways to improve on our world, and just keep
03:24making it a better place.