{"id":3629,"date":"2023-11-06T10:50:20","date_gmt":"2023-11-06T15:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/?p=3629"},"modified":"2023-11-06T10:50:20","modified_gmt":"2023-11-06T15:50:20","slug":"virginia-high-school-freshman-creates-soap-to-fight-skin-cancer-wins-25000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/2023\/11\/virginia-high-school-freshman-creates-soap-to-fight-skin-cancer-wins-25000.html","title":{"rendered":"Virginia High School Freshman Creates Soap to Fight Skin Cancer, Wins $25,000"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_3644\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3644\" style=\"width: 768px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3644\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/410\/2023\/11\/heman-bekele-3m-scientist-credit-firstpost-youtube.png\" alt=\"heman bekele\" width=\"768\" height=\"520\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3644\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Firstpost\/YouTube.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A Virginia high school freshman was seeking a fun science experiment and ended up making a soap with the goal of treating skin cancer. Heman Bekele, who attends W.T. Woodson High School in the Fairfax County Public Schools system, was crowned \u201cAmerica\u2019s Top Young Scientist\u201d and awarded $25,000 after winning this year\u2019s 3M Young Scientist Challenge.<\/p>\n<p>Bekele\u2019s idea for making a soap to treat skin cancer stemmed from his memories of people working long hours outside under the glaring sun in his native country, Ethiopia. In a press release from FCPS, he said, \u201cSkin cancer is mostly found in people who live within developing countries. But the average price for an operation is $40,000.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bekele continued, \u201cI was devastated by the idea of people having to choose between treatment and putting food on the table for their families. There are so many preventable deaths.\u201d As an aspiring scientist, Bekele started researching skin cancer, particularly dendritic cells, which help the immune system attack cancer cells. He used various ingredients, including glycolic acid, salicylic acid, and tretinoin, to create a skin-cancer-treating soap that helps stimulate dendritic cells.<\/p>\n<p>The process taught Bekele the value of persistence, he said. One significant challenge was finding the right combination of ingredients to ensure the soap held together without flaking into pieces. Using 3M Cavilon, a moisturizer and barrier cream, organic shea butter and coconut oil, he was able to make that happen. Eric D. Whitman, M.D., medical director of Atlantic Health System Cancer Care\u00a0in New Jersey, said Bekele\u2019s invention is an \u201cinteresting way of creating a topical immune activating agent that could help treat or prevent some skin cancers.\u201d It should be noted that Whitman wasn\u2019t involved in the project.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sBFepK577aw?si=8FATtX05w81zlbKJ\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Whitman said, \u201cWhile [this is] a remarkable effort from such a bright and motivated young man, further clinical testing is required to find out if the soap \u2018reactivates\u2019 dendritic cells, or even\u00a0treats or prevents cancer. I hope this young scientist continues his work and is given a chance to collaborate with clinical centers to test his product and see if it fulfills its potential promise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The teen worked with a mentor, Deborah Isabelle, a product engineering specialist at 3M in Minnesota, to develop his soap over the summer. Bekele also received support from\u00a0University of Virginia\u00a0researchers, FCPS teachers and his parents. The teen\u2019s profound curiosity about the STEM field began at a very early age, his parents told Fox News Digital in an email.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHeman has always been passionate about challenging himself beyond school,\u201d said his mother, Muluemebet G. Ejigu, and father, Wondwossen B. Gemechu, in a joint statement. Among 10 competitors, Bekele was announced the winner earlier this month at 3M\u2019s Global Headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota.<\/p>\n<p>The participants were evaluated based on \u201cingenuity and innovative thinking, application of STEM principles, demonstration of passion and research, presentation skills and ability to inspire others,\u201d according to a 3M press release. Bekele plans to use his cash prize toward securing a patent for his soap and saving for college. In the future, he hopes to launch a nonprofit organization to distribute his soap in low-income communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Virginia high school freshman was seeking a fun science experiment and ended up making a soap with the goal of treating skin cancer. Heman Bekele, who attends W.T. Woodson High School in the Fairfax County Public Schools system, was crowned \u201cAmerica\u2019s Top Young Scientist\u201d and awarded $25,000 after winning this year\u2019s 3M Young Scientist&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":3644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[746,743],"class_list":["post-3629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-physical-health","tag-heman-bekele","tag-skin-cancer"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Virginia High School Freshman Creates Soap to Fight Skin Cancer, Wins $25,000<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Heman Bekele, a high school freshman, was looking for a fun science experiment and ended up making a soap with the aim of treating 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