NIH awards $200K to researchers creating ‘transgender voice training’ app

A transgender professor and two speech therapy experts have teamed up to create software designed to teach men how to sound feminine – and were awarded $213,878 in taxpayer funds for the effort.

The project, “Improving the Accessibility of Transgender Voice Training with Visual-acoustic Biofeedback,” aims to improve “gender-affirming voice and communication training (GAVT)” with “novel GAVT software” that coaches men on their “pitch and resonance” through voice exercises, according to an abstract. The study began in December and ends in November 2025.

The research is being conducted at the University of Cincinnati and led by Associate Professor Vesna Novak, a male computer scientist who now identifies as female and formerly was known by the first name Domen. Speech scientist Victoria McKenna of UC and speech-language pathologist Tara McAllister of New York University also are involved.