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The Virginia teen's feat is impressive, to say the least, and recently earned him the title of "America's Top Young Scientist."
A freshman at WT Woodson High School in Annandale, Bekele is the winner of the 3M Young Scientist Challenge, which bills itself as the nation's premier middle school science competition.
Heman set himself apart with his compound-based Skin Cancer Treating Soap (SCTS), 3M said, and will win $25,000 in cash.
Heman was inspired to create his soap after hearing that there's only a 20 percent recovery rate of melanoma in parts of Africa, compared to the U.S., where 98 percent of patients recover, he said in a YouTube video.
He felt the deaths caused by melanoma were preventable, and he could do something about it.
Heman's soap includes a blend of keratolytic agents that he says reactivate skin cells weakened by cancer.
The kicker? A $10 pack of 20 soap bars is a small price to pay compared to nearly $40,000 in harsh cancer treatments, making it a far more affordable and accessible method of treatment.
Click here to watch Heman's 3M submission video.
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