Fourteen-Year-Old Wins the Title of America's Top Young Scientist

Heman Bekele, a ninth grader from Fairfax, Virginia, recently won the prestigious title of America’s Top Young Scientist for his groundbreaking idea presented at the 3M Young Scientist Challenge: a soap designed to combat skin cancer at an affordable cost. Bekele’s motivation sprang from witnessing people laboring under the sun in Ethiopia and realizing the lack of awareness regarding sun exposure risks. In his application for the competition, he wrote that he believed “young minds can make a positive impact on the world.”

Bekele worked with a mentor to develop and test a physical prototype of his idea. His soap activates skin cells to fight cancer cells, a novel approach in early-stage skin cancer treatment. He told the competition judges that he wanted to turn the soap into a “symbol of hope, accessibility, and a world where skin cancer treatment is within reach for all.”



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