Solomon Lab Team | UC Davis MIND Institute

Marjorie Solomon is a licensed clinical psychologist and professor of clinical psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UC Davis School of Medicine. She is a clinical cognitive neuroscientist who studies how persons with autism think and remember things. Her current research also uses cognitive neuroscience methods, including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), to study cognitive control; learning, motivation, and rewards processing; functional connectivity; and neurodevelopment from early adolescence through young adulthood in individuals affected by autism. She also has studied and implemented clinical intervention programs to help children and adolescents with autism.

Yukari Takarae is an Assistant Professional Researcher in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and MIND Institute. Her research has focused on how perception and cognition develop in autism and other genetic syndromes, including fragile X and chromosome 22q deletion syndrome. She has combined multiple methods in her research: MRI, brainwave analysis, eye tracking, behavioral assessment, and computer-based training to improve cognition. She is currently involved in the Autism Phenome Project to examine the emergence of depression in middle to late adolescence in autistic persons using behavioral and brain measures, such as MRI. She is also involved in a study on how parent involvement influences achieving academic and other life goals in autistic adolescents and young adults. She is also starting a new project that examines contributions of sensory challenges to emotion regulation difficulty in autistic adolescents and young adults.

Jo Ann Yon Hernández 

Jo Ann Yon Hernández has been a postdoctoral scholar in the Solomon Lab since 2022. Her research focuses on how executive functioning, skills like flexible thinking, organization, and decision-making, affects independent living for autistic people, especially during the transition to adulthood.

She is currently studying employment experiences among autistic adults. Under the mentorship of Marjorie Solomon, she is leading a pilot study of Thinking Skills at Work, a 12-week program aimed at improving workplace success. She also works on IPS-AUT, a project that helps autistic adults find and maintain jobs with the right support. Jo Ann is expanding her expertise in implementation science, using focus groups and community engagement to improve how programs are delivered in real-world settings.

Grace Lo is a Junior Specialist in Marjorie Solomon’s lab at the UC Davis MIND Institute. She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2024 with a B.S. in Psychobiology and a Minor in Applied Developmental Psychology. As an undergraduate, she was a research assistant in Catherine Lord’s lab. Here, she contributed to a study that examined the social factors contributing to loneliness in autistic adults. Grace also assisted with the UCLA College to Career: Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relationship Skills (PEERS®) under Amanda Gulsrud and Elizabeth Laugeson, where she supported young adults on the spectrum in developing career-building and workplace skills as a Career Coach. Grace currently coordinates the Autism Phenome Project. In the future, she would like to pursue a career in pediatric psychiatry, with a focus on providing culturally competent care to children and adolescents from historically marginalized communities.

Megan Smith is a Junior Specialist in Marjorie Solomon’s lab at the UC Davis MIND Institute. Megan graduated from the University of California, Davis in 2023 with a B.S. in Human Development. Her research focuses on community interventions that support the well-being of diverse individuals and families. Under Daniel Choe at UC Davis, Megan analyzed data from the Yolo County Basic Income program which provided funds to families with young children threatened with homelessness. Megan is currently working on projects related to the Individualized Placement and Support for Autistic Adults (IPS-AUT) study that aims to help autistic young adults find meaningful employment. Megan is also a volunteer for the Social Skills workshop which supports children with social challenges. In the future, Megan plans to further her education in psychology to continue learning how to create effective support services for individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions.  

Sebastian Xu is an autistic adult with lived experience. He started volunteering for the Cognitive Control in Autism (CoCoA) study in the Solomon Lab in the summer of 2017 and was hired into his current role in 2019. He assisted in the scoring and entry of questionnaires and interviews that participants and their families complete during their visits, both in the Solomon lab and in the Massie Family Clinic. Sebastian loves working on computers, and he frequently used his talent with Microsoft Office in his work in the Solomon Lab. Currently, Sebastian scores data for the Child Life Program and enters data for the Fragile X Research and Treatment Program. His favorite part of working at the MIND Institute is scoring.

Maggie Zheng graduated from UC Davis in 2022 with degrees in Human Development and Psychology. She is a research assistant at the UC Davis MIND Institute in Marjorie Solomon's lab, working on studies funded by the California Department of Developmental Services and NIMH. These projects explore the Individualized Placement and Support (IPS) model for individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities. Maggie also developed and oversees the paid internship program for Redwood SEED Scholars at the MIND Institute. Previously, she was the Employment Coordinator for the Redwood SEED Scholars program, a four-year inclusive college initiative. With three years of experience as an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapist, she values the role of community, social interaction, and meaningful work in the lives of neurodiverse individuals. Maggie is passionate about creating inclusive workplaces and partnering with businesses to support individuals with disabilities.