D. Travis Thomas, PhD, RDN, CSSD, FAND
CDR Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics
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POSITION | Skills/Attributes associated with the position | Examples of how I have demonstrated outcomes for each skill/attribute that qualify me for the position |
CDR Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics |
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* Member of the Academy-20 years * Engaged in developing CSSD examination standards *Identified as Sports Nutrition Subject Matter Expert by CDR *SCAN executive committee (2013-2015) *Sports Nutrition Fact Sheet Editor for SCAN and the NIH *Chair to SCAN's Nominating Committee (2015-2017) *Served SCAN in numerous ways since 2011: webinar, grant, and poster reviewer, strategic planning committee *Lead Author: 2016 Nutrition for Athletic Performance Position Stand *Fellow of the Academy |
Employer | Title | Years Employed |
University of Kentucky | Associate Professor | 7 |
University of Kansas | Postdoctoral Scholar | 2 |
Moses Cone Health System | Clinical Dietitian | 2 |
Leadership Position | Organization | Years Involved in the Organization | My specific leadership contributions, achievements and outcomes: | Leadership Skills used in this position: |
Executive Committee Secretary | SCAN | 2013 - 2015 | I excelled in this position by relying on my diverse collaborative experiences, maintaining a friendly, caring mentality, and a keen focus on organization. My experiences as an academician and clinician have served me well as a SCAN leader and have guided efforts and support policy change within SCAN to better serve our members. | |
Nominating Committee Chair | SCAN | 2015 - 2017 | As the winner of this national DPG election, I was ready from day one to help SCAN identify future leaders. As Chair, I spent many hours working with my committee to vet multiple candidates for Academy and SCAN elections. I faced and overcame adversity when I was tasked with evaluating 9 Chair-Elect candidates for SCAN. Ultimately, SCAN and the NC fully supported the challenging decisions that were made that will lead to improved SCAN leadership in many years to come. | |
Director of Undergraduate Certificate in Nutrition for Human Performance | University of Kentucky | 2016 - 2018 | I developed and serve as the director of an undergraduate certificate program designed to introduce the topic of Nutrition for Human Performance to students prior to receiving their baccalaureate degree. This program is the first of its kind nationwide, and has a goal of educating future sports RDs earlier in their career to create higher functioning entry-level practitioners. | |
Lead Author: Nutrition for Athletic Performance-2016 AND position stand | Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics | - | Served as leader by coordinating all literature review and writing tasks for the authorship team. Maintained organization and met all deadlines for drafting, reviewing, and responding to reviewer critiques. Worked closely with Academy Position Paper work group to determine final position stand content. | |
Associate Professor | University of Kentucky | 2010 - 2018 | Research: Have served as a PI or Co-Investigator on multiple NIH grant awards. I have contributed to acquiring over $14 million in funds to study nutrition and exercise interventions in heart failure, cancer, and aging and have provided research experience to multiple graduate students, RDs, and aspiring RDs. Teaching: Lead instruction at all levels, including advanced sports nutrition (graduate), nutrition for injury prevention and rehabilitation (undergrad) and a novel UG certificate program. |
What do you see as opportunities for the future of the nutrition and dietetics profession?
Developing and embracing a comprehensive system to identify, train, and help mold future dietetic leaders is paramount to excelling as an Academy and reaching new heights as a profession. A commitment to leadership succession planning is an additional key opportunity that must be addressed to maintain leadership continuity and to efficiently meet goals to better serve our membership. I believe that my experience will leave me well prepared to help lead these efforts.
Campaign Statement
To enhance the process of acquiring and maintaining the CSSD certification, I will investigate new strategies to improve test content and explore opportunities to enhance professional growth and leadership within the sports nutrition profession.