Solomon co-founded NYSCF in 2005. She had earlier started work as a health-care advocate in 1992, when her son was diagnosed with
type 1 diabetes. As a result of her son's diagnosis and then her mother's death from cancer in 2004, she sought to find a way in which the most advanced medical research could translate more quickly into cures. In conversations with clinicians and scientists, Solomon identified stem cells as the most promising way to address unmet patient needs. At the time of her death, NYSCF was one of the biggest nonprofits dedicated to stem cell research, employing 45 scientists at their Research Institute in Manhattan and funding an additional 75 scientists around the world. == Personal life ==