The Department of Health and Human Services gave a six-figure grant to the University of Cincinnati in December 2023 to fund the development of an app intended to help transgender people cope with “voice dysphoria.”
HHS’s description of the grant defines voice dysphoria as “distress because a person’s voice does not match their gender identity,” providing “trans women with deep voices” as an example of the condition. To remedy voice dysphoria, the university’s researchers were tasked with developing a “gender-affirming voice and communication training software that combines visual-acoustic biofeedback about pitch and resonance (two main indicators of voice femininity/masculinity) with exercises for these targets,” according to the grant description.
