00:00 In the meantime, an Ethiopian-American top young scientist challenge winner is hoping
00:04 to change lives through his invention.
00:07 The competition carries an award of $25,000 prize money that challenges young minds to
00:13 develop innovative solutions for everyday problems.
00:16 VOA Salem Solomon tells us more.
00:21 Hemon Bekana says that he has always been passionate about problem solving.
00:25 That curiosity has earned the Ethiopian-born American teen the grand prize and $25,000
00:31 in cash in this year's 3M Young Scientist Challenge, a competition for U.S. students
00:37 enrolled in 5th through 8th grade.
00:40 Hemon entered a bar soap that could fight a type of cancer known as melanoma.
00:44 Hemon Bekana says, "I've always been really passionate about just finding solutions that
00:47 aren't just really great from a science perspective but are also accessible to as many people
00:52 as possible.
00:53 And for a disease like skin cancer, where cures already exist in the field, the only
00:57 issue is that those cures aren't accessible to everyone."
01:01 Hemon's soap is still being tested for its effectiveness, but it works by activating
01:05 special cells called dendritic cells that help the body fight skin cancer.
01:10 "I tried to come up with a solution that was not only great from a science perspective
01:14 that could work, but then at the same time was also affordable and accessible."
01:18 Hemon's parents say that they didn't realize how important his project was until their
01:23 son was shortlisted among the top 10 competitors.
01:27 His father, Wendwosen Bekela, says they couldn't contain their excitement.
01:31 "When he became like a top 10, I was really, I mean we were so satisfied.
01:41 And then when he became like the first, the top, we were so, so overwhelmed with his accomplishments.
01:47 So we're still so happy with him."
01:50 His mother, Mouloumebet Kitacho, says he has always been curious as a child.
01:56 "Hemon likes to create.
02:01 Since he was a child, he used to like to research things.
02:04 He used to prefer playing with things he created instead of toys.
02:08 He was social.
02:09 He liked to play.
02:10 He liked to talk and play with other people.
02:12 He likes to read, but he also listens.
02:15 He's a good listener."
02:18 Hemon says his skin cancer-treating soap must still get an approval from the U.S. Food and
02:26 Drug Administration.
02:27 When that happens, he hopes it can be made accessible to people in underserved and low-income
02:32 communities.
02:33 "Of course, there's a lot of work still left to get to that goal, but I hope that, like
02:38 I was saying, by 2028 it'll turn into a non-profit and we'll have to see from there where it
02:42 ends up."
02:43 The World Health Organization's Cancer Agency estimates that nearly 325,000 new cases of
02:49 melanoma were diagnosed worldwide in 2020.
02:53 Hemon says all he wants to do is make people's lives a bit easier.
02:58 For Erin Garamow in Fairfax County, Virginia, Salem Salomon, VOA News.
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