15-year-old scientist, Heman Bekele was named TIME Magazine’s Kid of the Year for 2024 for his groundbreaking research and development of a soap that could help treat skin cancer.

The high school sophomore from Virginia is someone “who could change how we treat skin cancer,” stated TIME in its announcement.

“It’s absolutely incredible to think that one day my bar of soap will be able to make a direct impact on somebody else’s life,” Bekele told Time. “That’s the reason I started this all in the first place.”

The creation of the soap could provide a “more accessible way to deliver medication to treat skin cancers, including melanoma.” the magazine said in a news release. 

it’s not Bekele’s first experience being celebrated for his groundbreaking work as he was named America’s Top Young Scientist by 3M and Discovery Education in 2023.

It’s further reported that Bekele has also been working on testing his soap at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, collaborating to evaluate its effectiveness on mice.

This is critical in bringing the product closer to achieving FDA certification, allowing his soap to move from the lab to those who need it.