Heman Bekele, a ninth-grader from Annandale, Virginia, has been named "America's top young scientist" for his groundbreaking work on a soap bar that shows promise in treating melanoma, a skin cancer affecting 100,000 Americans annually and 8,000 fatalities.

“Curing cancer, one bar of soap at a time,” he said in his submission. “I have always been interested in biology and technology, and this challenge gave me the perfect platform to showcase my ideas,” he added.

He pitched his idea for a soap – the “skin cancer treating soap” – made from compounds that could reactivate dendritic cells that guard human skin, enabling them to fight cancer cells. In a video to the 3M Young Scientist Challenge, Bekele said he believed “that young minds can make a positive impact on the world”.

Bekele’s idea came from living in Ethiopia to the age of four where, he told the Washington Post, he had seen people constantly working under the hot sun: “I wanted to make my idea something that not only was great in terms of science but also could be accessible to as many people as possible.”

His mentor at 3M, Deborah Isabelle, described the teen to the outlet as “focused on making the world a better place for people he hasn’t necessarily even met yet”.

As per the American Cancer Society (ACA), skin cancer stands as the most prevalent among all cancer types, where melanoma, though making up only 1% of cases, is responsible for the majority of skin cancer-related fatalities.

The ACA reports a significant increase in melanoma incidence, particularly among women aged 50 and older, with white individuals being over 20 times more likely to develop the disease, while melanoma mortality rates have decreased in the past decade.

Upon receiving the award, Bekele conveyed to the judging panel his aspiration to transform the soap into a representation of hope, accessibility, and a world where skin cancer treatment is available to everyone.