11th April 2019

In March, Beatson scientist Dr Johan Vande Voorde called on Scots to walk 10,000 steps a day to help raise money for Cancer Research UK's Walk All Over Cancer campaign. Johan and his loyal sidekick Sookie were chosen to launch the fundraising challenge in Scotland.

Johan is studying how cancer cells use nutrients in a different way to healthy cells to grow and survive. His hope is that identifying a way to interfere with how cancer cells use nutrients to grow could lead to new targets for cancer drugs and better, kinder treatments.

Johan is also a member of a global team of scientists working to create a ‘Google Earth’ for tumours. Cancer Research UK is investing £16 million in the ground breaking ‘Grand Challenge’ project to develop a new way to map tumours that could transform how cancer is diagnosed and treated.

Away from the lab, Johan walks seven-year-old Sookie, a flat-coated retriever, to relax and exercise after a long day at work.

Originally from a town called Turnhout in Belgium, Johan moved to Scotland four years ago and says he immediately fell in love with Drymen when it came to looking for somewhere to live, because of its warm sense of community and its proximity to some of Scotland’s most beautiful countryside. Somewhere he could take Sookie for nice long walks was also important, as she was moving to Scotland with him.

Johan said: 'Walking with Sookie is what I enjoy most in my free time. It gets me out and about and helps me clear my head. And it’s healthy to walk and get some exercise away from my desk. During the week we go for shorter walks along the West Highland Way, and at the weekends I’ll take her for one or two good walks at Loch Lomond, or in the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park.'

In Scotland, a fifth of people are getting less than 30 minutes of physical activity a week (source: Scottish Health Survey). Walking 10,000 steps at a brisk pace could burn roughly 500 calories.

Pictured above: Beatson scientist Dr Johan Vande Voorde and Sookie