{"id":273351,"date":"2026-04-30T19:17:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T19:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/273351\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T19:17:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T19:17:11","slug":"this-alumnus-and-registered-dietitians-risk-to-attend-texas-tech-grad-school-paid-off-april-2026-texas-tech-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/273351\/","title":{"rendered":"This Alumnus and Registered Dietitian\u2019s Risk to Attend Texas Tech Grad School Paid Off | April 2026 | Texas Tech Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dylan Bailey knew one expert worth attending a university in a state where he had
\n no connections. The result was an experience that launched him into a lucrative career.<\/p>\n

\t\tCREATORS<\/p>\n

\"Portrait<\/p>\n

He laughs about it now, but Dylan Bailey admits moving into an apartment he found
\n listed on Craigslist was a pretty bold move for a graduate student thousands of miles
\n away from his home state of New Jersey.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bailey had wrapped up several chapters of his life before coming to Lubbock, Texas
\n in 2015. First, his two-year college baseball career at Delaware Valley University;
\n then his undergraduate degree in nutrition and dietetics at Montclair State University.
\n What the eager pupil packed with him was a passion that combined an interest in athletics
\n with his studies \u2013 the discovery that eating better can lead to more home runs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI never thought about that because no one taught me that,\u201d he recalled. \u201cSo when
\n I first started thinking about the role of muscle health, nutrition and athletic performance,
\n it was just mind blowing to me that you could eat a certain way and take certain supplements
\n and your performance would become enhanced. That was just like complete magic to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BaileyBailey as a Texas Tech Nutritional Sciences graduate student.<\/p>\n

It was no happenstance that Bailey chose Texas Tech University<\/a> as the place he would further delve into the research side of nutritional sciences<\/a>. He was drawn to the College of Health & Human Sciences<\/a> by an opportunity to form a lab for a highly respected mentor of his: Dr. Nikhil V. Dhurandhar<\/a>, now a Paul W. Horn Distinguished Professor, Helen Devitt Jones Endowed Chair, chairperson
\n of the Department of Nutritional Sciences and associate dean for innovation for the
\n College of Health & Human Sciences.<\/p>\n

Bailey helped Dhurandhar on a study as an undergraduate and made a positive impression.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDylan possessed the full skillset to excel as a graduate student, ranging from scientific
\n curiosity and in-depth understanding to quick and effective execution of research
\n ideas,\u201d Dhurandhar recalled. \u201cDylan has incredible energy and tremendous networking
\n ability.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DhurandharDhurandhar (middle, black shirt) and Bailey (middle, red plaid shirt).<\/p>\n

Continuing his work with Dhurandhar would be just what Bailey\u2019s resume needed to be
\n competitive for a dietetic internship. He made sure to get involved on campus as well,
\n such as with Raider Red\u2019s Food Pantry<\/a> and becoming president of the Graduate Nutrition Organization<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The communication skills he refined in these roles set him up for his career \u2013 earning
\n him a fellowship with Ketchum in 2016 that would lead to a full-time job with the
\n public relations and communications agency.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bailey was promoted into his current role as the vice president of nutrition affairs
\n after more than seven years as a senior nutrition specialist. In this position, he
\n develops scientific research strategies that fill evidence gaps and align with trends
\n for some of the world\u2019s biggest food companies and commodity board clients. He describes
\n the corporate strategy and innovation work as an extension of what he used to do on
\n the Texas Tech campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"BaileyBailey being interviewed for Raider Red\u2019s Food Pantry <\/p>\n

Following Bailey\u2019s guidance is just a click away by exploring the Nutritional Sciences
\n webpage.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe provide nutrition and health counsel and guidance around anything that goes in,
\n on or around your body,\u201d he explained. \u201cIt was my experience at Texas Tech, working
\n for the food pantry and crafting communications about it, that really helped me get
\n to where I am now in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many dietitians are employed with a hospital, long-term care facility or other clinic
\n seeing patients and clients. However, Bailey always dreamed of using his talents more
\n in a business and communications sense, so he considers Ketchum the perfect fit for
\n his ambitions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The information he develops can potentially impact millions of people who are looking
\n to make healthy diet and lifestyle choices.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"BaileyBailey delivering a Ketchum presentation.<\/p>\n

\u201cKetchum has enabled me to work on some of the most influential brands in the world
\n and talk about their health, nutrition and research in a way that really is a public
\n health tool or message,\u201d he said. \u201cTo be able to work on foods that consumers interact
\n with every day is really fascinating.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to these responsibilities, Bailey serves as a fellow of the Academy of
\n Nutrition and Dietetics as well as the American Society for Nutrition, and has worked
\n as a freelance writer for outlets including Forbes Health and Healthline Media. His
\n influence earned him a spot on Today\u2019s Dietitian Magazine TD10 list as one of 10 dietitians
\n making a difference in the nutrition and dietetics profession.<\/p>\n

\"BaileyBailey on a panel at the 2026 Pistachio Industry Conference with Dhurandhar.<\/p>\n

He also still gets the opportunity to work with Dhurandhar on science communication
\n projects for Ketchum clients. Bailey often reflects on this relationship with his
\n mentor when asked for advice from college students.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very important to talk with whoever your advisor, mentor, lab leader or principal
\n investigator is and be very open and transparent with them about what you want for
\n your career early on,\u201d he advises. \u201cThey\u2019re there to guide you, so if you know what
\n you want to do, utilize their expertise, knowledge, resources and connections to help
\n you.<\/p>\n

\u201cFigure out how to make those connections, even if that means going to a conference
\n that you\u2019ve never been to before, presenting research or requesting to tag along as
\n they go and meet with people just so you can see how things work. Make sure that you\u2019re
\n leaving college with this enriched experience, connections and a network you can rely
\n on as you start to navigate the next step in your career.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bailey\"BaileyBailey serving on panels for Ketchum.<\/p>\n

Bailey stresses that moving to Lubbock on a cold-turkey approach was not the last
\n time he pushed himself to venture into the unknown or the uncomfortable. He assures
\n students that there is a charm about West Texas that makes it easy to pursue such
\n opportunities, which enabled him to gain friends and colleagues for life and the ongoing
\n support of an entire department cheering for his success.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important that when you do try out different things, you come away with a tactical,
\n tangible list of what you liked and disliked in a path forward to keep learning and
\n growing,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the big piece of advice I like to give students because
\n it\u2019s OK to not know what you want to do. You\u2019ll get there! Just keep learning and
\n growing from your experiences, and it\u2019ll eventually work out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dylan Bailey knew one expert worth attending a university in a state where he had no connections. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7269,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[168,170,169],"class_list":["post-273351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lubbock","tag-lubbock","tag-lubbock-headlines","tag-lubbock-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}