In the 56th episode of Rabbit Hole of Research, Joe, Nick, and Georgia are joined by Davis Ashura, endocrinologist, epic fantasy author, and creator of the Anchored Worlds universe, to explore where magical healing meets medical reality. Davis brings a unique dual perspective: treating chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension by day, and writing epic fantasy with detailed healing systems by night.
The conversation starts with the real world complexities of healing and recovery. Davis explains how pain, and the anticipation of pain can end an athlete’s career, and why true healing requires mental recovery, not just physical repair. Davis also shares how he weaves medical realism into fantasy, making injuries feel consequential even when magic accelerates healing, and why he chose an esoteric diseases like hyperthyroidism in his Anchored Worlds books.
They explore cutting edge modern medicine, from organ cloning, the rise of personalized cancer therapy, and the GLP-1 revolution. The crew tackles the ethics of healthcare access, insurance barriers, why pharmaceutical research lags in funding behind nutrition science, and whether your best health really does start in your kitchen.They dig into AI’s role in drug discovery, personalized medicine tailored to individual patients, and debate whether future healthcare becomes more expensive and limited or scalable and more accessible.
Along the way, they go down rabbit holes of video game healing mechanics, Grand Theft Auto parenting stories, DragonCon Nicholas Cage cosplay, and ancient Egyptian diabetes hieroglyphs.
Where to Find Davis Ashura:
Website: davisashura.com
The Anchored Worlds Universe
Audiobooks narrated by: Nick Podehl and Travis Baldree
Check out what the RHR crew is creating:
Joe:
Red Line: Chicago Horror Stories Anthology featuring a new story by Joe!
Joe’s Sci-fi physiological thriller Novel: Will You Still Love Me If I Become Someone Else?
Essay by Joe: From Beyond Press: Specific Knowledge: Jotham Austin, II, PhD on Transformations in Fiction
Joe explores how many calories it would take to transform into monsters across sci-fi and horror—think 222 Big Macs and tubs of Cherry Garcia.
Future Events to Hang with the Crew:
Podcast Cross-Appearances
Joe on GoIndieNow: 21grams with Joe Compton
Events & Conventions:
5th Annual Mai Fest - Blue Island, IL (May 9th 12-5pm)
Creative Arts Summit - DIY Podcast Workshop at Lake County Public Library on May 23rd, 2026
ConCarolinas - Charlotte, NC (May 29–31, 2026 ) - Joe attending as Guest
Shore Leave 46 - Lancaster, PA (July 10-12, 2026)
Lancaster Wyndham Resort and Convention Center
Dragon Con - Atlanta, GA (September 3-7, 2026) - Joe attending as Professional
It’s Science for Weirdos
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We want to Hear From You (leave a comment):
If you could design a personalized medicine just for you, what would it cure or enhance?
Would you trust AI to design your personalized treatment plan, or would you want a human doctor to make the final call?
Davis says your best health starts in your kitchen, not your doctor’s office. What’s one food or habit you know you should change but haven’t?
Drop your thoughts in the comments. We read them all, and your ideas often shape future episodes.
Future Episodes & Events
Episode 57 – The Science of Chatbots & Human Connection
Guests: Lily & Generoso
Diving into AI communication, computational science, and how chatbots are reshaping human interaction with MIT scientist-turned-writer Lily and illustrator/filmmaker Generoso.
Episode 58 – Lassoing the Truth Serum
Guest: David Detmer
Exploring the philosophy and science of truth, deception, and the Handwavium of Wonder Woman’s lasso.Episode 59 – The Science of Fear: Phobias, Physiology & Splatterpunk
Guest: Phrique
Diving into the biology of fear, phobia formation, and the extreme horror genre of splatterpunk with author Phrique.Episode 60 – Planetary Defense: Saving Earth from Other Worldly Impact
Guest: Charles Blue
Exploring asteroid detection, planetary defense systems, and what it takes to protect Earth from cosmic collisions.
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Show Notes & Fun facts
Books & Literature Mentioned in Episode:
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (Davis’s inspiration to become a writer)
Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (Davis’s biggest homage)
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
Robert Heinlein’s “young explorer series”
Epic of Gilgamesh
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden (thriller author who is also a neurologist, upcoming movie with Sidney Sweeney)
Movies & TV Shows Mentioned:
Idiocracy (2006) – Mike Judge film featuring Gatorade/”electrolytes” corporate dystopia
Wall-E – Georgia references it when talking about future humans on motorized vehicles looking at screens
Video Games Mentioned:
Grand Theft Auto – Max’s parenting story about trying to prove it’s not violent
Streets of Rage (Sega Genesis) – Joe’s favorite, mentioned eating turkey legs for health
Wolfenstein, Doom, Descent – 1980s health bar mechanics
Fun Facts:
GLP-1 Drugs Come From Gila Monster Spit
GLP-1 hormone mimic, exenatide is a synthetic drug derived from a protein (exendin-4), first discovered in the venomous saliva of the Gila monster in the 1990s. The lizard’s peptide was studied for its ability to regulate blood sugar, leading to breakthrough diabetes and weight-loss medications.Dolly the Sheep’s Clone Wasn’t “Young”
When Dolly the sheep was cloned in 1996, scientists discovered her telomeres (DNA protective caps) matched the adult donor’s age, not a newborn’s. This meant the clone was cellularly “older” despite being physically young, aging had transferred at the genetic level.Your Best Health Starts in Your Kitchen, Not Your Doctor’s Office
Pharmaceutical research funding dwarfs nutrition research because you can’t patent a diet. Processed foods are the real enemy, shopping the perimeter of the grocery store (fresh produce, meat, dairy) beats anything in a box.Healing Requires More Than Just Tissue Repair
When fantasy characters heal instantly, they ignore the complexity: arteries, veins, capillaries, tendons (with poor blood supply), ligaments, soft tissue, and even bone bruises all need precise repair. Real healing is a physical and mental process.The Anticipation of Pain Can End Careers Faster Than Injury
NFL running backs often decline not from cumulative damage, but from flinching before hits. The brain’s anticipation of pain causes hesitation, exposing players to worse injuries.
Episode Highlights
00:00 – Basement Studio Intro
“Hey welcome back to the rabbit hole of research down here in the basement studio, take two.”
00:23 – Meet Davis Ashura
“I am Davis Ashura I’m a physician by training. That’s what I do every day. And I also write Epic Fantasy novels.”
01:08 – Healing Magic Meets Biology
“A healer waves their hand and the wound closes. A character drinks a potion and broken bones knit whole.”
02:25 – Endocrinology and Real Healing
“I’m an endocrinologist...which means most of what I deal with is chronic long-term diseases like diabetes type two, type one, gestational...hypertension, hyperlipidemia.”
03:50 – Pain Tolerance and Athletes
“It’s not even the pain, it’s the anticipation of the pain that causes them to pause...running backs when they’re young will get to the hole and hit it hard...three years later, they’re still young, they’re 25 years old, they’re not hitting that hole quite as fast and their career is done.”
07:07 – Anti-Aging and Telomeres
“Dolly the sheep that was cloned...the telomere length actually stayed the same as the adult. It didn’t reset.”
07:27 – GLP-1 Weight Loss Breakthrough
“GLP one...They’re the first true drug that we’ve had that has actually helped with weight loss on a long-term basis...the first GLP one that was synthesized was actually discovered in the spit of the Gila monster.”
11:11 – Access, Ethics, and Insurance
“I write for them and then they go to the pharmacy and it’s $1,800. That’s like, who can afford that?”
12:32 – How GLP-1 Works
“It slows gastric emptying, it potentially increases insulin release, and it seems to have an effect at the level of the brain to increase your sense of satiety. So you don’t want to eat as much.”
14:38 – Potions, Alchemy, and Nature’s Drugs
“I think in some, either some video games, some literature, that is how these potions are created. They take these different plants, fungi, whatever, moss, and they just know that if you mix them...It’s basically chemistry at that point. But they call it alchemy.”
20:23 – Fictional Healing With Real Diseases
“I had a character who had hyperthyroidism...anytime he tried to exert himself, his heart would just race to 180 beats a minute. And he had no stamina and nobody knew how to fix him because they didn’t understand what was wrong with him.”
23:02 – Video Games and Healing Penalties
“I think that would actually be pretty cool. Like, if you’re injured in whatever way you’re injured...you took the wrong antibiotic, one, you’re still gonna have a urinary tract infection and two, you might end up having a secondary infection.”
26:34 – GTA Parenting Storytime
“He wanted to play Grand Theft Auto with his friends, but we were like, I don’t think you’re old enough to play that game...to start the game, you have to like perform a drug deal.”
28:44 – Dragon Con Cosplay Tangent
“The funniest thing I ever saw was this group of people dressed up as Nicholas Cage from all his different movies, and they just had like this little cardboard face on.”
29:38 – Quality Over Lifespan
“It’s not really an anti-aging that you guys are doing anymore, but it’s more of a life extending...Quality, of...exactly. So it’s not just you live more years, but the years you have, you can still do the things you wanna.”
30:37 – Prevention Through Movement
“Our bodies were meant to be used not to sit at a desk all day...We’re healthier when we’re moving.”
32:44 – Personalized Cancer Care
“Whether it’s cancer therapy or anything, you’re looking for medications that will target that particular cancer with particular receptors and no other receptor sites so that there’s not a bunch of side effects.”
34:17 – Profit and Access
“Pharmaceutical research occurs. It’s driven by profit. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that, but you don’t love it when you know that somebody can be...can benefit from something and they can’t afford it.”
37:21 – AI Drug Discovery Reality
“If you have a program that can model it and it can look for that particular receptor within somebody’s cell wherever it happens to be looking. If that cost comes down...then at that point you would have compounded medicine that’s specific for that individual.”
43:13 – AI As Creative Assistant
“There’s an AI program that I’m using that sort of, you can upload your PDFs into it and then it just lets you interrogate your previous work...I have trouble remembering my kids’ names sometimes...the series that has the fewest number of named characters in my series is at 155.”
45:34 – Writing Journey and Influences
“I’ve wanted to be a writer probably since 1985, when I was much younger than I am now. But things got in the way, my career going to college, med school, that sort of thing...published for the first time in 2014.”
50:26 – Healing Realism in Fantasy
“I want injuries to feel real in terms of recovery, even if it is, the recovery is shortened in terms of the physical healing, I want the mental healing to occur and not just be hand waved away.”
52:28 – Practical Health Basics
“Processed food is not good food. So if you go to the grocery store, stay along the edges, not in the aisles where the food is processed and in a box.”
56:38 – Ancient Healers and Diabetes
“There was a hieroglyph from one of the pharaohs...the inscription or hieroglyphic said he lost his life through his urine...the first documented case of type one diabetes.”
58:36 – Books Plug and Farewell
“I’ve got a set of books that are all interconnected called the Anchored Worlds. There’s four series...available on Amazon and most of them are also available on other stores like Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Google Play, Apple. And then the audio books are available on Audible.”
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