Our NIH-funded project “Improving the Accessibility of Transgender Voice Training with Visual-acoustic Biofeedback,” is eligible to apply for an NIH Research Supplement to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research. If you know a student from an underrepresented background who might be interested, we would love if you could put us in touch with them.
About our project: “Some transgender people can be negatively impacted if their voice is perceived as incongruous with their gender identity, and they may pursue training to achieve a vocal presentation that is comfortable for them. In addition to the pitch of the voice, men’s and women’s vocal tracts also differ in their resonating characteristics, but resonance is harder to understand than pitch, and harder to target in therapy. Our software allows learners to visualize the resonant frequencies of the vocal tract, which could make it easier to adjust them to match a target that is appropriate for their personal speech goals.” This project is a collaboration with Vesna Novak, a transgender computer scientist at the University of Cincinnati. Our overarching goal is to create and test the first software for gender-affirming voice training that combines real-time information about both vocal pitch and resonance with structured exercises.
About the NIH Supplement: These supplements are intended to support promising young researchers from underrepresented backgrounds as defined by the NIH (scroll down to Underrepresented Populations in the U.S. Biomedical, Clinical, Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Enterprise for specific categories of eligibility; only US citizens and permanent residents are eligible). The researcher and mentor work together to identify a research project and a career development plan to be executed in the course of the administrative supplement (typically one year in duration, full-time or part-time). Researchers at multiple levels are eligible for supplements – post-baccalaureate, post-master’s, predoctoral, and postdoctoral. Given the focus of our research project, we would love to find a team member who is LGBTQ+ or committed to working for the well-being of the LGBTQ+ community as well as meeting NIH’s definition of underrepresented groups.
How to get involved: If you know anyone you think might be interested in this opportunity, please feel free to spread the word! Interested candidates can contact us with a current CV for further discussion.
I am also interested in hearing from any students who would be interested in applying to work on this project as a doctoral student through NYU Steinhardt’s fully funded PhD fellowship program (start date fall 2025). In addition to the PhD program in Communicative Sciences and Disorders, there is an interdisciplinary PhD program in Rehabilitation Sciences that could be a strong fit for a student with AI/ML experience who would be interested in working on the technical side of the project.
