Will Flanary

Flanary grew up in Houston, Texas. He was educated at Texas Tech University,[2] where he graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in cell and molecular biology. While attending Texas Tech, he met his wife, Kristin. He then enrolled at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, where he discovered his interest in ophthalmology.[3] It was also while he was a medical student at the Geisel School of Medicine that he was first diagnosed with testicular cancer (specifically, a highly curable stage 1a seminoma) at the age of 25. He then had surgery to remove the testicle that had the tumor on it.[1][4] While attending Dartmouth, he was inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha. After graduating from Dartmouth, he completed his residency at the University of Iowa Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in 2017.[5] During his third year of residency, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer again. This time the diagnosis was a stage 1b seminoma, and he had surgery to remove his remaining testicle, followed by hormone replacement therapy involving a weekly injection of testosterone. By this point, he and his wife had two children.[1] In May 2020, he suddenly went into cardiac arrest in his sleep. His wife then performed CPR on him for 10 minutes before paramedics arrived and resuscitated him. He told CTV News in January 2022 that he still did not know the reason that he went into cardiac arrest.[6]

Since 2017, Flanary has raised money for the non-profit organization First Descents, which provides outdoor experiences to young adults who have been diagnosed with cancer. He had raised over US$100,000 for the organization as of January 2022. He has described his own experiences using the organization after being diagnosed with cancer as "a lifeline".[4][6]

Flanary created the Dr. Glaucomflecken Twitter account in 2016 out of boredom at a research conference. The account is named after glaukomflecken, a symptom of acute angle-closure glaucoma.[7] As of January 2022, his Twitter account had over 472,000 followers, and his TikTok account had over 1 million followers and over 47 million total views. At the time, Flanary told CTV News, "If I’d known that it would turn into this I would have chosen an easier name to say. Honestly, it's surreal."[6] He has received many speaking opportunities since revealing himself as the creator of Dr. Glaucomflecken. For example, he spoke at the virtual International Conference on Residency Education in 2021, and will be the commencement speaker for the graduating class of Yale School of Medicine in May 2022.[4][6]

• Official website