We’re thrilled to announce that our first cross-border science and health project was published on November 4 by the Mexico City daily newspaper El Universal and the digital magazine Tangible.

This in-depth report titled, “Trans in Latin America,” was reported and written by four prominent science writers and focuses on how legal barriers and discrimination limit the trans community’s access to medical treatment. As a sad result, the life expectancy of trans persons in Latin America is between 35 and 41 years, compared with a regional average life expectancy of 75 years.

Tangible editor Iván Carrillo served as editor of the project, which received support for reporting grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s (HHMI) Department of Science Education. Our project was published in Tangible and in El Universal in collaboration with Fundación Ealy Ortiz and InquireFirst.

We invite you to read this impressive project on the Tangible website at: https://interactivo.eluniversal.com.mx/2019/transgenero-transfronterizo/

Our goal in funding this project was to encourage collaborative science writing across international borders, strengthening regional science, health and environmental stories by multiplying the number of reporters, editors and visual journalists working on high-impact reports on issues of regional importance.

The reporters on the team were selected during our Jack F. Ealy Science Journalism Workshop, which we held on July 1 in Lausanne, Switzerland during the 2019 World Conference of Science Journalists (WCSJ2019).

On the reporting team are:

• Carmina de la Luz Ramírez, a freelance science journalist whose work is published regularly in El Universal, the largest daily newspaper in Mexico. She writes about a broad range of topics and has a special interest in covering stories about social aspects of science such as gender perspectives, policies and investments. Carmina is a member of the Mexican Network of Science Journalists (RedMPC).
• Debbie Ponchner, a science journalist with more than 15 years of experience in print and digital media, as well as newsroom management. Debbie is based in her home country of Costa Rica where she leads DP Comunicación Estratégica, a company devoted to improving the communication of science.
• Valeria Román, a freelance science writer based in Argentina who writes about science, health and the environment for Science,Nature and Scientific American, as well as Infobae.com, SciDev.net and Forbes Argentina.
• Margaret López, a science and economic reporter based in Venezuela who is the editor of HispanoPost Media Group and a collaborator with SciDev.net.
• Iván Carrillo, is the editor of this cross-border health project. He serves as editor of Tangible, which is a digital magazine of the Mexico City daily newspaper El Universal,Iván is the anchor of the program Los Observadores on Mexico’s TV Azteca and a writer for National Geographic and Newsweek en Español. He has also worked with Discovery Channel and CNN en Español.

This is only the beginning! We plan to launch a series of cross border projects in the months ahead so keep checking our InquireFirst website for more excellent regional reporting.