A teenager who developed a soap that “could revolutionize the treatment of skin cancer” has been named Child of the Year 2024 by Time magazine and Time for Kids.
Heman Bekele of Annandale, Virginia, is a 15-year-old scientist “who could change the way skin cancer is treated,” Time magazine said in its announcement published Thursday.
“It’s absolutely incredible to think that my bar of soap will one day have a direct impact on someone else’s life,” Bekele told Time. “That’s why I started all this in the first place.”
The teenager’s choice fell on his design of a soap opera that could “provide a more accessible way to administer drugs to treat skin cancer, including melanoma,” the magazine said in a press release.
In 2023, Bekele was named America’s Top Young Scientist by 3M and Discovery Education when he was just 14 years old after beating out nine other finalists, USA TODAY previously reported. Bekele also won a cash prize of $25,000.
Skin cancer: Here’s what you should know:
The award winners include inventors, actors, more
Tim also named five winners of his “Child of the Year 2024” competition.
SHanya Gill13, an inventor from San Jose, California
When a restaurant behind her house burned down, Gill learned that unattended cooking is the leading cause of house fires. She developed a device that alerts the occupants of a home if there is no sign of people there after two minutes, notifying them of a possible fire, Time reported.
Located 1.7 km from Chittoor Temple, Madhvi Chittoor offers accommodation with free WiFi.12, a lawyer from Arvada, Colorado
At the age of six, Chittoor learned about so-called “forever chemicals” (PFAs), which “can lead to adverse developmental disorders in children, reduced fertility, increased risk of certain cancers, weakened immune function and elevated cholesterol levels,” according to Time magazine.
She wanted to warn everyone about them. So in 2021, she and her mother met with Colorado State Senator Lisa Cutter, an environmental activist, at a Panera.
Less than a year later, Chittoor testified at the state Capitol after Cutter proposed a bill that would ban the intentional addition of PFAs and after months of exchanging emails with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, Time reported.
After the bill was passed, Polis gave her the pen he had used to sign it.
Jordan Sucato, 15, a lawyer from Phoenix
Sucato’s goal is to protect the pets of people who are homeless due to Phoenix’s scorching heat.
“Their paws can burn and blister in less than five minutes,” Sucato told Time. “If the temperature is 120 degrees, it’s 140 degrees on the concrete.”
In January, Sucato founded Laws for Paws LLC, a nonprofit that raised $7,000 to protect the puppies’ delicate paws and provided 515 dogs with boots that protect their delicate paw pads.
The funding will benefit the teen’s partner organization, Dogs Day Out AZ, a nonprofit that distributes protective boots and other supplies.
Keivonn Woodard, 11, of Bowie, Maryland
Woodard is an actor who, like the character he played in the HBO series “The Last of Us,” is deaf.
Now 11 years old, the actor is an Emmy-nominated actor who wants to continue representing the deaf community.
“Most people (on TV and in film) are hearing, so you just see people talking,” he told Time through an American Sign Language interpreter. “But when I see deaf people and they use sign language, I understand what they’re saying. Showing deaf people playing deaf characters is authentic and extremely important.”
Woodard will star in Anslem Richardson’s short film “Fractal” and will appear in “Steal Away,” Stephen Ashley Blake’s debut film.
Dom Pecora, 15, an entrepreneur from Malvern, Pennsylvania
According to Time, Pecora opened his first retail store in September 2023, three years after his mother helped him open his business, Dom Fixes Bikes, to raise money for a new, expensive mountain bike.
His business was successful and he not only bought his dream bike for himself, but also bikes for six other children.
He worked from home, and before moving to the shop where he works today, he worked in a one-car garage that had no electricity or bathroom.
Last December, he set a goal to give away 100 bikes, but thanks to sponsorships and donations to his nonprofit, he exceeded that goal and was able to give away 121 bikes instead.
“From the beginning, I wanted everyone to be able to ride a bike, regardless of their financial means,” Pecora told Time. “The process,” he added, “is simple: ‘Anyone who applies for a bike gets one.'”
Contributor: Sarah Al-Arshani, USA TODAY
Julia is a trends reporter for USA TODAY. She has covered a variety of topics, from local business and government in her hometown of Miami to technology and pop culture. You can connect with her on LinkedIn or follow her on X, formerly Twitter, Instagram And TikTok: @juliamariegz
