The past year has been a whirlwind for 15-year-old Heman Bekele. With his love of chemistry, the student and budding scientist has been researching skin cancer treatments since he was 11, inspired in part by his childhood in Ethiopia.
In 2023, Bekele was named America’s Top Young Scientist by 3M and Discovery Education after he developed a soap containing imiquimod, a drug used to fight skin cancer by repairing damaged skin cells. Since then, he’s gone on to be named TIME’s 2024 Kid of the Year and most recently was selected as one of 25 winners of the 2024 Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes.
Bekele lives in Annandale, Virginia, with his parents, and sisters, Hasset and Liya.
What made you interested in chemistry?
I’ve been passionate about science since before I can really remember when it comes to chemistry. At a really young age, I used to mix together random household chemicals around the house just to see what would happen, if there would be any reaction. Like laundry detergent and dish soap. Of course, there was. (Laughs) It wasn’t the chemistry that I do now with my cancer research, but it was a good start. And I think that was what grew that initial curiosity to my love and passion for science today.
What about your childhood in Ethiopia inspired you to pursue skin cancer research?
There are two parts to the work that I do. It’s the science, but it’s also, from a humanitarian perspective, a more affordable and accessible alternative to skin cancer treatment. I would say that, more than the science, I was really inspired by the affordability and accessibility standpoint. I was in Ethiopia until I was 4 years old, and during that period of time, I didn’t understand much of what I was seeing. But coming to America, growing up and doing more research, I realized how big of a problem skin cancer exposure really was, especially in [developing] countries where people couldn’t afford to get treatment or didn’t have access to it. My time in Ethiopia really inspired me to give back and make a contribution, in one way or another, through my love of science.
What kind of research did you do before presenting at the 3M Young Scientist Challenge?
For one, I conducted a lot of research digitally with my mentor, Deborah Isabelle, who I was assigned by the challenge. She was so helpful … She works at 3M and she knows a lot about the process of problem solving, and if I ever had any issues, I could always ask questions. From a more scientific standpoint, there were some researchers at the University of Virginia, because they were pretty close by [where I live], who helped me refine the idea. Of course, I was a middle schooler then. I didn’t have as much access as I do now to lab work, but there was a fair amount of research that went into it.
It’s been a year since you were named America’s Top Young Scientist. Where are you [in] the development process for this soap now?
Over this past summer, [the soap] was tested on a mice model. That process was about four weeks of consistent testing, and from that, their tumors significantly decreased in growth over those four weeks. That was exciting news. … I think the dream, and something that’ll take a while for sure, is to one day make skin cancer -fighting soap a universal product, almost like a nonprofit, where it’s distributed to as many people as possible. It’s not really about profit, but rather, from the start, it’s been about the idea of affordability and accessibility—getting it in as many people’s hands as possible and impacting as many lives as possible.
How do you balance your scientific research and your regular school life?
It can be difficult for sure, especially balancing a lot of the research and the schoolwork I did as a sophomore in high school. I like to kind of split up my time into separate periods. So, right now, it’s definitely very heavy school work. School just came into session; we’re moving into the second quarter. But the second summer starts, it’s right back to research, working really hard, long hours. Last summer, I was working eight-hour days Monday through Friday, and I try to get in time during school breaks. It’s tricky, but I’ve had the privilege to be working on this for a long time, so it’s gotten easier over time.
You’ve received a ton of public recognition over the past year. How has that affected your personal life?
It’s been surreal. It’s really been an incredible experience these past couple of months, not only after I won the 3M Young Scientist Challenge, but then the honor of being named TIME Magazine’s Kid of the Year. I’m so grateful every single day, because I know there are so many people out there just like me working on their ideas that couldn’t get this level
of recognition.
My general reaction after I won was, ‘Wow, this is incredible. It’s something that truly has changed my life. How can I make the best of it, and how can I inspire others to do the same as well?’
