Staff Profile: Stacia Sliger, Administrative Assistant
For Stacia Sliger, extreme organization has become a recipe for success.
The professional baker-turned-administrative-assistant works closely with members of the NUCATS Institute’s Center for Biomedical Informatics and Data Science to coordinate center logistics.
Having grown up in Austin, Texas, alongside three siblings, Sliger decided to branch out from her Southern roots. In 2011 she moved to New York to attend the Culinary Institute of America, where she earned her associate’s degree in Baking and Pastry.
“I loved working in the culinary industry, but I knew I wanted to have a family someday and that can get really difficult when you’re working every holiday and 60-hour work weeks, so I took some time to re-evaluate my skillset and realized that I was a natural at being an administrative assistant.” Sliger says that being detail-oriented and finding enjoyment in repetition have helped her the most throughout her second career.
Sliger spent time working as a personal assistant to a business owner before starting at Northwestern, and says that “Managing someone’s life was a lot of pressure, but it brought out the best in me.” Not only is Sliger the administrative assistant for CBIDS, she is also enrolled in the accelerated Organizational Behavior program at the Northwestern School of Professional Studies.
“I loved working in the culinary industry, but I knew I wanted to have a family someday and that can get really difficult when you’re working every holiday and 60-hour work weeks, so I took some time to re-evaluate my skillset."”
Her role with CBIDS includes acting as an assistant to four directors of research as well as ordering supplies for the entire department. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Sliger was also heavily involved in planning conferences and other educational events, handling travel logistics, and welcoming visiting professors, as well as working closely with students to prepare for weekly Biomedical Informatics and Data Science talks.
Sliger’s role supports the many research projects taking place at the center and she finds fulfillment and joy in being able to help investigators’ lives run smoothly. “It’s wonderful to be able to build a conference from the ground up and foster an environment of information sharing that could save lives and make data science more accessible to everyone,” she says, adding that she can’t wait until it’s safe to host large events again.
She recalls last year’s Biomedical Data Science Day fondly. The large-scale event that took eight months of planning. “I wish people knew how much multitasking is required to get these projects off the ground,” Sliger says. “Sometimes I surprise myself with how many tasks I can be working on at a time!
When she isn’t organizing CBIDS events, Sliger splits time between studying for her Organizational Behavior degree and planning her wedding. She also enjoys finding forest preserves to explore with her fiancé and dog, Ziggy.
“I have never been happier in my career, not just because of the work I do, but because of all the people I interact with. The directors I assist are the most generous, empathetic, and hardworking people I’ve had the pleasure of working with and I look forward to many more years at NUCATS.”
Written by Morgan Frost
