Mariana Alvarado is a bilingual journalist based in Mexico City with more than 19 years experience as a reporter and editor of web and print. She wrote award winning stories for the Arizona Daily Star on immigration, international business and border issues. She oversaw business coverage for Grupo Reforma in Guadalajara, Mexico's second largest city.

Fellowship Project: The link between childhood obesity and socio-economic standing.

We are interested in learning more about childhood obesity and how it affects Tucson, Arizona, where diabetes is rampant. We have a particular interest in how obesity affects our area’s Hispanic and Native American populations, which are plagued by childhood obesity and diabetes, and by adult-onset kidney failure stemming from chronic diabetes.