Dr. Martschenko is an Assistant Professor at the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics, where she studies how to promote ethical and socially responsible conduct in human genetics and engages the public around controversial science. Dr. Trejo is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Princeton University whose work examines how social and biological factors jointly influence human development, with a focus on educational and health inequality.

Their collaboration began in graduate school, where they approached genomic research from different intellectual traditions. Dr. Trejo, trained at Stanford, became involved with researchers studying polygenic scores, which are genetic indices linked to social and behavioral outcomes. A controversial talk and an unfortunate reply‑all email situation sparked debate about whether this work risked echoing eugenic ideas. His advisor encouraged him to connect with Dr. Martschenko.